


Whumptober 2019: Irondad, Stony, and Superfamily

by unreasonablestarkstan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, M/M, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers whump, Stony - Freeform, Superfamily, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Whump, Whump, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-09 04:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 33,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20847515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unreasonablestarkstan/pseuds/unreasonablestarkstan
Summary: Chapter 31: Embrace - STONYTony’s eyes darted back and forth from the old flip phone in his hand to the steel beam that was crushing his legs. He had been stuck under the collapsed building for almost an hour now, and no one was answering his calls. He had tried Rhodey and Happy five times each, Peter twice, and even Fury once. But it was the middle of the night, and apparently no one kept their phone on loud anymore. So he was left with one more option: Steve Rogers.They hadn’t spoken in the eight months that had passed since their fight in Siberia, but Tony carried that stupid flip phone around with him everywhere he went. He didn’t really know why he held onto that phone. Part of him didn’t even believe that Steve would answer if he called. But having it made him feel like he still had some sort of connection to his old friend, even if he never thought he’d be able to work up the courage to actually call him. The option was there, and that was all that mattered.





	1. Shaky Hands - Irondad

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: shaky hands  
Notes: Canon-ish Irondad, TW for blood and head injuries

Prompts for Whumptober 2019 can be found [here](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/post/187356400823/october-approaches-and-so-does-whumptober-2019)

XXXXXXX

The battle was absolute chaos. Everything was moving so fast, everything seemed so random, it was almost impossible to tell friend from enemy. Even FRIDAY was having trouble tracking all of the movement on the field. Every time Tony took down one of the half-robot half-alien creatures, another one was at his back ready to dig its mechanical claws into his suit. They weren’t expecting this many monsters. There shouldn’t have been more than 10 of them, but it seemed like there were at least 100. If Tony had known that they would have to fight so many of the awful creatures then he would never have allowed Peter to join the battle. 

But it was too late now. Peter was here and there was nothing Tony could do about. He hated himself for thinking this would be a good opportunity for Peter to break in his new Spider-Man suit. He thought it would be a simple fight: kill a few aliens and scavenge their bodies for information and tech. He should have known better. Simple fights turned ugly all the time, and now the kid was stuck in the crossfire, probably way over his head. If Peter got hurt, or worse, Tony didn’t know what he would do. He thought he might just go insane. 

Tony blasted another wretched creature with his repulsors and watched it fall lifelessly to the ground. In the brief moment of calm, he looked around frantically for the telltale red and blue of Spider-Man. Nothing.

“Peter? Where are you? I don’t see you anywhere,” Tony said, not even trying to hide the panic in his voice. He didn’t have the energy for that right now. 

Tony waited. No response. 

“This isn’t funny, Pete. Answer me.”

Again, no response. Tony felt bile start to rise up in his throat.

“FRIDAY, give me a status update on Spider-Man.”

“I’m sorry boss, it appears that Mr. Parker’s suit is offline.”

_No._ _Please no._

Tony thought he was going to throw up. His mind was spinning with terrible thoughts of what might have happened to Peter. He couldn’t pay attention to the monsters anymore, they were trivial compared to the kid. So it was no wonder that one of the aliens caught him by surprise, slamming its full weight against him in the air and sending him tumbling to the ground. He landed with a hard thud and felt his face slam against the front of his helmet. There was a telltale cracking sound of his nose breaking and warm blood started pouring out of his nostrils.  _ Fuck. _

Before he had the chance to react, a sharp black claw came down towards his face, ripping his mask off like it was nothing. He tried to grab the alien’s arm but his vision was still blurry from the fall and he missed, his arms swinging wildly. Another claw came down and tore a nasty gash through the side of his face. It should have been white-hot pain, but for some reason it only felt like a dull burn. Maybe hitting his head so hard was doing him some good. 

But while the blow to the head was dulling his pain, it was also making him slow and imprecise. None of the shots from his blasters were hitting the monsters, and more and more of them seemed to be closing in on him. Maybe that was just because he was seeing double. He vaguely felt another claw sink into his shoulder, but at this point he was too tired to care. He barely even registered the claw pointed directly at his heart. An instant before the sharp talon could pierce his chest, Tony saw a familiar flash of red and blue swing by, sending the monster tumbling away from him. 

“Oh my god, Mr. Stark, are you okay?”

It was almost impossible for Tony to focus on anything now, but he would know that voice anywhere.  _ Peter.  _ An immense wave of relief washed over him. When FRIDAY had told him that Peter’s suit was offline, he really thought he had lost him. 

“Pete...I thought…” Tony managed between coughs, mildly noticing the taste of blood in his mouth. He tried reaching up to grab Peter’s shoulder, just to make sure he was really there, but his hands were shaking so terribly and his vision was so blurred that he couldn’t even make contact.

Peter started shooting webbing at Tony’s wounds, helping to stem the incessant flow of blood. Tony could barely make out his face, but he could tell that the kid looked absolutely terrified. 

“You okay, kid?” Tony asked, his voice weak.

“Of course I’m okay, Mr Stark. It’s you I’m worried about. I really don’t want to freak you out, but good god that’s a lot of blood.” 

Tony sighed. With this chaotic battle and his suit being offline, it seemed impossible that the kid could be unhurt. Maybe he needed to give Peter more credit. He could hold his own in a battle better than Tony thought.

“I’ll be fine, kid. I’m just happy you’re safe”

But if Peter wasn’t even hurt, then why was the suit offline? It didn’t make any sense, unless… He looked around, his mind a little clearer now that he wasn’t worried about Peter. All the aliens seemed to be shimmering, like they had some kind of electric current running through them. He hadn’t thought much of it earlier, but maybe that’s what had disrupted his connection to Peter’s suit. Which meant that he knew the exact frequency these monsters were operating on.

“Thor!” Tony yelled into his comms device, hoping it was still working after his fall. “I need you to send out a pulse of lightning at exactly 200 megahertz, that’ll take them down!”

Tony saw three blinding strokes of lightning as Thor centered in on 200 megahertz - it wasn’t an exact science, summoning lightning - until a final stoke did the trick. Every single alien they were battling collapsed into a limp heap of limbs. 

Tony laid back against the ground, exhausted and weak. The webbing had mostly stemmed the bleeding, but he had lost a lot of blood already and he could barely keep his eyes open anymore. 

“You did good, kid,” he said, focusing his eyes on Peter one last time before finally letting the blackness engulf him.   
  


XxxxxxxxX  
  
  


The steady beeping of a heart monitor filled Tony’s half-consciousness, slowly coaxing him back to reality. His shoulder was aching, but it was a dull throb that was definitely eased by the IV in his arm. The whole right side of his face was covered in a bandage and felt completely numb. 

His eyes blinked open, the lids feeling heavier than he could ever remember. He looked to his left and saw Peter, long limbs draped awkwardly over a hospital chair. He was quietly snoring, just loud enough for Tony to hear. Tony couldn’t help but smile. Feeling luckier than he had any right to, he closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep. 

  
  
  
  



	2. Explosion - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: explosion  
Words: 1269  
Notes: Unestablished Stony, TW for explosions, blood, broken bones

“You’re not going in there alone, Stark. That’s final.” Steve spoke pointedly into his comms device, clearly annoyed. He had been arguing with Tony all day, mostly just the usual bickering. But now he was refusing to listen to common sense. The Hydra bunker on the top of the mountain could easily be a trap, and Tony just wanted to waltz right in like an idiot. Steve stared up at where Tony was hovering around the entrance, but all he could see of him was a red speck contrasted against the light gray sky. 

“Come on, Cap. This thing is almost as old as you, and that’s really saying something,” Tony replied, “It’s been decades since anyone’s been here. I’m just gonna look around a little.”

Steve rolled his eyes, not in the mood for any of his shit. “Are you an idiot, Tony?”

“Maybe I am,” Tony said, laughing. “Listen, I’m just gonna kick down this door and --” 

Steve saw the explosion before he heard it. A flash of red and orange light and then a second or two later, the deafening noise of the blast. Huge chunks of white rock fell from the side of the mountain; it looked like an avalanche in the middle of July. Several nearby trees were engulfed in flame, others had split apart from the sheer force of the blast. 

“TONY!” Steve screamed, running as fast as he possibly could toward the pile of rocks and rubble that had landed at the base of the mountain. But he was so far away, it was going to take forever to reach him. God, why had they decided to split up? He should have been at Tony’s side, ready to catch him or throw him out of the way or do  _ something  _ to protect the man he --  _ No _ .  _ Not right now. _

“Tony, please tell me you can hear me,” Steve said desperately, “please tell me you’re okay.”

Of course, no response. He didn’t know what he expected. After a blast like that, it would be a miracle if Tony was even alive, let alone conscious. The thought of Tony laying there dead under all that rubble made Steve want to throw up. But he wasn’t going to stop, he had to get to him  _ now _ , he had to find him and get him out of there and make him okay. No matter what.

“I need a medical helicopter,  _ now _ .” 

There was only a second’s hesitation before the SHIELD agent on the other end of the line responded, “Copy that, captain. It’ll be there in 25 minutes.”

_ Tony will be dead in 25 minutes,  _ Steve thought, but he pushed it away. Panicking wasn’t doing Tony any good. 

After nearly ten minutes of full-out sprinting, Steve made it to the pile of rocks and started looking frantically for any red metal sticking out amongst the chaos. Seeing nothing, he began lifting and throwing the rocks out of the way -- being a super soldier certainly had its benefits. But he couldn’t move them fast enough. Minutes passed and still no sign of Tony. He was becoming more and more unhinged, hurling rocks every which way and watching some of them crumble as they hit the ground. His fingers were bleeding from his carelessness, but it didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered when Tony’s life was on the line.

Finally, when he thought all hope was lost, he spotted a shining piece of red armor buried under the rocks. 

“Tony…” he breathed, moving the rocks out of the way as fast as he could. It wasn’t nearly as fast as he wanted, but eventually he uncovered the Iron Man suit, dented and shattered in places but mostly in one piece. Holding his breath, he placed his finger on the fingerprint-activated release button on the back of the helmet and watched the armor fold away from Tony’s body. 

It was a horrifying sight. There were deep gashes all across Tony’s arms and chest from where his own armor had caved in and cut him open. His face was covered in blood from a gash at the top of his forehead. HIs leg was bent at a terrible angle, clearly broken. But the worst part was how utterly limp he looked, laying there against the rocks. 

With a trembling hand, Steve reached out and placed two fingers against Tony’s neck, searching desperately for a pulse. After a few terrifying seconds, he felt it. Weak and thready but definitely there. 

His relief was short-lived, though. There was so much blood already pooled around Tony’s body. Steve knew he couldn’t survive much longer without serious medical intervention, and  _ where the hell was that helicopter? _ He put as much pressure as he could on the two worst looking gashes on Tony’s chest, but it didn’t seem to help much. There were too many cuts and Steve just didn’t have enough hands. He felt absolutely useless.

“Come on Tony,” Steve said, his voice breaking. “Stay with me. You gotta stay with me, okay? I’m not gonna lose you. Not today.”

As if the heavens were responding to his pleas, the helicopter suddenly appeared from behind the mountain. The sound of the rotors was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. 

Once the helicopter landed, everything started to go by in a blur. He had to watch helplessly from the sidelines as the small team of doctors worked on Tony’s limp body. He wanted to scream at them to work faster, to get the bleeding to stop, to pull out some magical cure that would save Tony instantly. 

The first time he heard the heart rate monitor flatline, he had to look away. Seeing the doctors trying to restart Tony’s heart was simply unbearable. He stared down at his hands, feeling sick to his stomach when he realized they were covered in Tony’s blood. Miraculously, it was only about 15 seconds before Tony’s heart started beating again, but Steve didn’t look up from his hands. He didn’t think he could handle seeing anything like that again.

Tony’s heart stopped two more times during the flight, and each time Steve thought it was going to be the end. But Tony was nothing if not resilient. He somehow managed to make it to the French hospital, where he was immediately whisked away where Steve wasn’t allowed to follow. 

It was three agonizing hours before Steve heard anything from the doctors. He spent the time staring at the floor and thinking about all the things he wanted to say to Tony if he ever woke up. That he was a complete idiot for wanting to go into that Hydra bunker alone. That he should follow orders more often. That he was the one person Steve cared about above all else. That he loved him. He knew he’d never have the courage to say that he loved him. 

“Captain Rogers?”

The sound of the doctor’s voice helped Steve snap back to reality. He jumped out of his chair, unable to wait another second to know what was happening.

“Tell me he’s alive.”

“He’s alive,” the doctor responded, “and he’s stable. He’s going to be okay.”

Steve let out a deep sigh of relief and shook the doctor’s hand. He couldn’t believe it. After all of that, Tony was going to be okay. He followed the doctor into the hospital room and saw Tony laying there, covered in bandages and stitches but definitely alive. He sat down next to the bed and gently grabbed Tony’s hand. And for the first time since the explosion went off, Steve let himself cry.


	3. Delirium - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: delirium  
Words: 778  
Notes: Canon Irondad, TW for head injuries
> 
> I appreciate all kudos and comments :)

Peter doesn’t see the huge chunk of rock falling from the ceiling of the cave until it’s too late. Later, he’ll wonder why he wasn’t able to sense it coming. He’s dodged bullets more times than he can count, but somehow a giant rock falling out of the sky doesn’t set off his spidey senses. He’s not thinking about that right now, though. All he can think about is the bursting pain in his head, radiating out from where the rock collided with his temple. The last thing he hears before everything goes black is Mr. Stark shouting his name.

XxxxxxX

He’s floating in a pitch black void, unable to even see his own hand in front of his face. It’s kind of nice, actually. The pain in his head is gone, and the weightlessness is weirdly comforting. With his heightened senses, sometimes he feels like he’s being bombarded by lights and sounds and smells. But here in this void, it’s completely dark and silent. He feels like he could stay here forever. He vaguely thinks that he should be afraid of the emptiness, but if anything it’s calming. There’s no monsters to fight here, no innocent people to save from disaster, no buildings to collapse on top of him. 

Peter blinks, and suddenly his surroundings completely change. Instead of floating in a black void, he’s now floating in the middle of a vast ocean. The water is freezing cold. He starts shivering violently, his teeth chattering so hard he can feel the vibrations through his skull. The sky above him is filled with unfamiliar stars and a blood red moon. He wants to go back to the void. It was warm there, or at least it wasn’t this fucking cold. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to stay afloat much longer, not when he’s shaking like this. The second the thought crosses his mind, he begins to sink. Salt water rushes into his mouth and he gags from the taste. 

Peter screws his eyes shut, and the taste of salt water disappears instantly. Somehow, he’s even colder than before. He can’t remember ever being this cold. He takes a deep breath and opens his eyes, taking in the landscape around him. It’s dark and barren, an icy wasteland where everything is covered in a light gray coating of snow. His own body is half buried in the snow, but when he tries to dig himself out he realizes he’s paralyzed, unable to move anything below his neck. Just as he’s about to scream, he sees a pair of glowing red eyes peering out at him from behind a rock and he goes silent with fear.

A terrible looking creature starts running towards him. It’s big and black and covered in hundreds of sharp spikes, many of which appear to be splattered with blood. Its mouth is hanging open, revealing long black fangs dripping with both saliva and blood. The terror Peter feels as he watches the creature approach is so pure and intense and raw, he feels like a five year old child who just discovered that the monster under their bed is real after all. There’s nothing he can do but watch. His limbs still aren’t responding to his brain’s desperate attempts to get them to move. Mere moments before the creature reaches him, he finally manages to scream. 

All of a sudden, he gasps for air and sits up, the throbbing pain returning to his head. He’s still terrified and beyond confused. He tries to get up to his feet so he can run away, but he feels strong hands grab his shoulders and gently hold him down. Looking up, he sees the familiar, comforting face of Tony Stark. 

“Peter? Peter, can you hear me?”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaims, his voice full of terror. “Don’t let it get me, please don’t let it get me!” His whole body is shaking and his face is sickly pale. 

“Shh, kid. It’s okay. Come here.” 

Mr. Stark pulls Peter close against his chest and Peter clutches onto him for dear life, still shaking and afraid. He feels one hand slowly stroking his back, and another resting against the back of his head. 

“Nothing’s going to get you, Peter. Not while I’m around.”

Slowly but surely, Peter relaxes into Mr. Stark’s arms and his body stops shaking. He’s coming back to terms with reality - the monster isn’t real, he’s not paralyzed, he’s not buried in snow. Eventually he stops shaking completely, and he just rests with his head on Mr. Starks chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat. And for the first time today, he feels safe. 


	4. Human Shield - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: human shield  
Words: 755  
Notes: Superfamily AU where Peter is Steve and Tony’s son (but Tony’s biologically). TW for blood and guns.

Ever since the first day he held his infant son in his arms, Steve had sworn that he would keep him safe, no matter the cost. Of course he never imagined that the kid would one day be swinging around the city in red and blue spandex, getting himself into all sorts of danger that Steve couldn’t think about without wanting to throw up. He spent so much time worrying about Peter getting himself killed while trying to be a hero that he never thought that something terrible could happen while they were just taking a walk in the city as a family. It was such a beautiful day, too. There was really nothing better than strolling around New York with his husband’s hand in his own and their teenage son leading the way.

That beauty was destroyed when Steve heard a terrified scream coming from his son. A man was charging at Peter with a gun in each hand, both pointed directly at his heart. Steve didn’t have to think twice. He threw himself in front of his son just before the shots rang out. The bullets tore through his chest, one directly above his heart and one below. He didn’t start feeling the pain until he hit the ground. It felt like someone had shoved two white-hot metal rods through his chest. Being a super soldier clearly didn’t make bullets deflect off his skin. 

Before the man could take another shot at Peter, Tony hit him with one of his repulsors, sending him flying hundreds of feet away from them. Despite the intense pain in his chest, Steve couldn’t help but feel relieved. If both bullets had hit him, that meant they didn’t hit his son. And that was all that really mattered. He would do anything to protect Peter. Taking a couple bullets seemed like a small price to pay for his child’s life. He would take a thousand bullets if he had to, no questions asked. 

“DAD!” He heard Peter cry out in a terrified voice that would haunt Steve forever. He couldn’t stand hearing him sound so scared.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Steve said, vaguely noticing the taste of blood in his mouth. Peter was kneeling next to him now, looking at him with those soft brown eyes that reminded him so much of Tony’s. It was getting harder to see, though. His vision was starting to go black around the edges. 

“No, dad, please...please stay awake,” Peter was shaking now, his hands unsteady on Steve’s shoulders.

Suddenly, Steve heard a loud thumping noise - Tony landing back on the ground. He watched as Tony gently pulled Peter away, despite the kid’s protests. He groaned when he felt Tony start to put pressure against his wounds, escalating the pain but stemming the flow of blood. 

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re gonna be okay,” Tony said in a quiet, shaky voice. “The ambulance is almost here, okay? I just need you to stay with me until then.”

It was getting harder and harder for Steve to keep his eyes open, but focusing on Tony was helping, even if it was just a little. 

“I love you, Tony,” he said weakly, tasting more blood in his mouth. He didn’t think he would be able to keep himself awake much longer.

“Don’t say that, Steve. Not now. You’re going to make it, I promise.”

As if on command, the ambulance pulled up only seconds later. The EMTs rushed out and quickly took over for Tony, who in turn rushed over to Peter and wrapped his arms around him. Peter was still shaking wildly, but it looked like Tony was calming him down. Steve kept his eyes focused on the two of them for as long as he could before the world finally faded to black. 

XxxxxxX

When Steve woke up, the firey pain in his chest had dulled down to a mild ache. He felt a hand squeezing his own and opened his eyes to see Tony sitting next to him, staring at the ground. 

“Hey,” he said simply, smiling to himself when Tony jumped a little at the sound of his voice. 

“Hi there,” Tony said, locking eyes with Steve, “How’re you feeling?”

“Been better, I suppose. Definitely been worse. How’s Peter?”

“He’s okay. A little freaked out, but okay.” Tony paused for a moment, moving his hand up to Steve’s face. “He’s alive because of you.”

Steve smiled and placed his own hand on top of Tony’s. “I’d do it a thousand times.”


	5. Gunpoint - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: gunpoint  
Words: 1000  
Notes: Stony, TW for guns

It was like a scene out of a bad movie. The kind of thing that wasn’t supposed to happen in real life, it was just too ridiculous. But here he was, separated by a thick pane of glass from the love of his life. Tony was tied to a chair on the other side of the window, with a shotgun pointed directly at his forehead. A string was tied around the trigger, and it was slowly tightening from the pull of a mechanical wheel. A slow and steady march towards Tony’s death. If he wasn’t so terrified, Steve would have considered how absurdly dratmatic it all was. Hydra could have just killed Tony instantly if they wanted to, but of course the psychopaths had to torture Steve like this in the process. 

Steve had already been forced to watch as three Hydra agents beat Tony with nightsticks, leaving his face so bruised and bloody it was almost unrecognizable. The worst part was that the glass was completely soundproof. Steve could see Tony crying out his name, but he couldn’t actually hear anything. And in turn, he knew that Tony couldn’t hear him screaming that he was going to break in there and save him and everything was going to be okay. But it wasn’t going to be okay, and Steve knew it. No matter how hard he slammed his shield against the glass, it just wasn’t breaking. 

Tony’s eyes were darting back and forth from Steve to the trigger of the shotgun, though one of his eyes was almost completely swollen shut. He looked so utterly terrified. Steve hated seeing him like that. The bruises and gashes were one thing, they had been on enough missions together for Steve to have seen Tony with physical injuries countless times. But the fear in his eyes was what cut directly to Steve’s heart. He had never seen Tony like this in all the years they had been together. He had always been so fearless, or at least it seemed that way. But even the great Tony Stark couldn’t appear fearless when staring down the barrel of a shotgun. 

The string was getting tighter and tighter against the trigger, and Steve was getting more and more desperate. He had to break that stupid glass. He just  _ had _ to. Losing Tony wasn’t an option. They had wasted so much time before finally getting together, so many years of avoiding their feelings and pretending like there was nothing there even though there obviously was. He couldn’t let that all get ripped away from him just because he couldn’t break through a single pane of glass. With an ugly, raw scream, Steve threw all of his weight against the glass. He felt his shield vibrate with the reverberation of the impact. 

_ Crack. _

A tiny noise, almost imperceptible. But Steve was sure he heard it, even if he couldn’t see any marks on the glass. With newfound vigor, he took a deep breath and ran towards the window again, centering his weight on the opposite shoulder. His scream was even louder this time, more animalistic. 

_ Crack...crackcrackcrack. _

The sound was louder now, and Steve cried out when he saw the thin cracks forming through the glass, confirming that he wasn’t just imagining it. He turned his shield sideways and slammed it against the center of the web of cracks, his heart soaring when fragments of glass started flying out. The rogue shards were cutting up his face and hands, but nothing was going to stop him now. He took another running start and slammed his whole body against the window.

Miraculously, it was finally enough. The glass shattered and Steve fell through to the other side. With no time to untie Tony from the chair, he lunged forward and knocked him to the ground. The shotgun went off at the exact second that the chair broke underneath them. 

Steve wasted no time ripping off the restraints and gathering Tony up in his arms, holding him tighter than he could ever remember. Tony’s whole body was still shaking, like his brain couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. 

“I’ve got you, Tony,” Steve said, holding him even closer. “It’s okay, you’re okay. I’m here.” He couldn’t really tell whether he was trying to reassure Tony or himself. 

“Steve...I, I can’t…” Tony was clearly struggling to speak, his voice shaky and his breathing weak. 

“Shh, don’t worry. Just breathe, okay?”

Tony nodded and pressed his forehead hard against Steve’s chest. He looked so small and vulnerable, it made Steve’s heart ache. He never wanted to see him like this again. 

“I’m getting us out of here, I promise.” 

He picked Tony up from the cold metal floor and carried him out of the room. The hallway was deserted, Steve guessed that the Hydra agents had scattered when they saw him break through that glass. He had been hoping to take some of them down on his way out. After everything they had done it was the least they deserved. But they were gone, and that was okay. All he really cared about was getting Tony to safety. 

The Quinjet was still waiting for them outside and Steve got them in the air and away from the Hydra base in record time. He turned on auto-pilot and sat down next to Tony, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders and pulling him close. 

“We’ll get you fixed up in no time, yeah?” Steve said before leaning down and pressing a kiss to Tony’s forehead, avoiding the bruises. 

Tony just smiled, relaxing a little in Steve’s arms. They both knew it would be more complicated than that. The bruises and scrapes would heal easily, just like they always did. But the memory of what had happened wouldn’t fade away so quickly. There would be nightmares and panic attacks and horrible flashbacks. But they had each other, and that was enough. As long as they were together, they could survive anything.


	6. Dragged Away - Irondad (pt 1/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Dragged Away  
Words: 1079  
Notes: Canon-ish Irondad, TW for guns, this will be a 2-parter continued tomorrow.

“You know what else this place reminds me of, Mr. Stark?” Peter was rambling on again, just like he always did. Tony pretended to be annoyed by it, but he secretly loved it, even if he would never admit that to himself. There was just something so endearing about the way this kid talked, with never ending bad jokes and pop culture references. He had already compared the abandoned Hydra facility to something from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Doctor Who. Tony idly wondered what else could possibly be left for Peter to reference. 

“I don’t know, Peter,” Tony said with a dramatic sigh, feigning annoyance.

“Don’t you think it looks just like the Department of Mysteries from Harry Potter?” Peter had such a big grin on his face, Tony couldn’t help but smile. “I feel like there’s gonna be a giant vat of brains behind every one of these doors.”

“Brains?” Tony asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, Mr. Stark, you need to brush up on your Harry Potter trivia. Just because it wasn’t in the movies doesn’t mean it’s not important!”

Tony rolled his eyes and kicked down another rusty door, revealing a completely empty room inside. God, this was annoying. He was sure the weapon that they were looking for was somewhere in this base, he just couldn’t find it anywhere. Maybe Hydra did a better job than he thought of cleaning out the skeletons in their closet. 

“See? No brains. No anything.”

“I’m starting to think it’s not even here, Mr. Stark. Almost all of these rooms have been empty.”

“Yeah, I think you might be right, kid,” Tony said, furrowing his brow. He just hated to admit that this whole trip might be for nothing. “We’ll check a few more doors and then head out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Peter said with a smile, “This place is starting to give me the creeps, anyway.”

“You and me both,” Tony said, kicking down another door and again finding nothing on the other side. In most respects, the base seemed completely abandoned. Most of the doors were rotting or rusty, rats and insects were crawling on the floors and walls, and the few remaining items were covered in thick coats of dust. But despite the appearance, Tony couldn’t help but feel like they weren’t alone in the base. He kept brushing it off as paranoia, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the feeling the longer they stayed there and he was getting anxious to leave. 

“Alright, Pete, let’s get out of here.”

“Good call, Mr. Stark,” Peter said happily. He seemed relieved to finally get out of the dark tunnels and back into the sunlight. 

Peter led the way back to the entrance, all the while rambling on about something that had happened in science class the week before. If someone had told Tony a year ago that he’d be listening to a high school kid tell him about their science class in the middle of an abandoned Hydra base, he’d have laughed in their face. Funny how fast things can change. This was his new normal, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“So then, Ned was like “That’s why you don’t mix an acid with a --  _ mmph _ !”” 

Peter’s words were abruptly cut off. A gloved hand was covering his mouth and a masked figure stood behind him, holding him in place. The figure was holding a gun in his other hand, pointed directly at Peter’s head. Peter was staring at Tony with wide, terrified eyes. Tony’s stomach dropped. Everything was fine just a second ago, but now his whole world was hanging in the balance. His blood was boiling with a sickly mixture of anger and fear. He raised an arm and pointed his blaster at the figure. It took all his strength to keep his arm from shaking.

“Let him go,” Tony said, his voice low and quiet. 

“Not an option, I’m afraid,” the figure responded in a wispy voice with a hint of a German accent.

“Let him go,” Tony repeated, “Or I’ll vaporize you before you can blink.”

The figure laughed a cold, horrible laugh. He pressed the gun harder against Peter’s temple and clicked off the safety. 

“If you really want to take that chance with his life, be my guest. I can assure you I have no intention of killing the boy.”

_ Shit. _ Tony should have known he would call his bluff. Anyone with eyes could see how much he cared about Peter, and how much he couldn’t bear risking his life. 

“Fine. Take me instead.” Tony had brought Peter into this, and he swore to himself that he would get him out of it, no matter the cost. 

The masked figure laughed again. The sound of it made Tony want to throw up. 

“You won’t do, it’s the boy we need. You can have him back after we’re done with him.”

The figure started to drag Peter backwards out of the tunnel, the gun still firmly planted against his temple, discouraging him from struggling. Tony rushed forward, his eyes locked on Peter’s, but he stopped dead in his tracks when the figure started waving the gun around.

“It would be in your best interest to stop moving, Stark. Another step from you and I’ll have no choice but to shoot the boy.” 

Tony froze, terrified of what might happen if he even moved a muscle. The figure continued to drag Peter away and he could do nothing but watch. Everything was happening in slow-motion, each second lingering for what felt like hours. Peter’s muffled screams were like daggers straight to his heart. He hated seeing the kid so terrified and vulnerable. Especially when it was supposed to be such a simple mission. The possibility of losing Peter this way had never even crossed his mind, and the reality of it was hitting him like a ton of bricks. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Pete,” Tony called out, hoping the masked figure wouldn’t retaliate just for speaking. “I’ll find you, I promise.”

Seconds later, Peter was dragged around a corner, and Tony lost sight of him. He fell to his knees and punched the ground over and over again, a futile attempt to get out all his frustration and pain and rage. But he knew he couldn’t sit here and wallow. He had made a promise to Peter, and he intended to keep it. 

_ To be continued. _


	7. Isolation - Irondad (pt 2/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Isolation  
Words: 1142  
Notes: Irondad, sequel to chapter 6

Peter stared at the stone ceiling of his cell, trying to figure out how many days it had been since he was captured. He had lost track somewhere around 16, and it felt like it must have been at least double that by now. But maybe the time was just going by slower now. He had been so afraid for the first few days, jumping at every little noise and sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest in the corner of his cell. The fear made the hours go by fast though, so maybe it wasn’t that bad. But eventually the fear gave way to boredom, and time seemed to pass more slowly. At some point, the boredom subsided and turned into a deep loneliness. It weighed down on him like a ball and chain at all hours of the day. Even more than wanting to escape, he just wanted somebody to  _ talk _ to. 

What had once been the worst part of every day quickly became the best part. Once a day, a man in all black clothes would walk into his cell, draw a vial of his blood, and leave a meal for him. He never spoke or made eye contact with Peter, but at least it was another human presence in the room, if only for a few minutes. At first he had been terrified that he was being poisoned, but there were never any physical symptoms and the man never seemed to want to hurt him. He figured they must be experimenting on him, which was unsettling but not necessarily life threatening. After all, there was only so much experimenting you could do on a dead person.

Other than the daily visit for the blood drawing and the occasional flashlight in his eyes and ears, there was nothing for Peter to do besides eat and sleep. And he hated sleeping. Every time he fell asleep, he had to relive the moment he was dragged away from Mr. Stark in vivid detail. He could feel the cool metal of the gun pressed against his temple. He could see the terror and rage in Mr. Stark’s eyes, a look that he knew would haunt him forever. And he could hear Mr. Stark’s last words to him: “I’ll find you, I promise.” Peter had been so sure that Mr. Stark would find him when he had first been captured, but now it had been weeks with no sign of rescue whatsoever. He was starting to lose hope that he would ever get to leave his cold, dark, lonely cell. 

“I think blood guy is late,” Peter said out loud to nobody but himself. If he hadn’t been talking to himself he thought he would have gone insane by now. It wasn’t quite enough to break through the loneliness, but it was something. “Maybe I just can’t keep time anymore. He’s never been late before. Weird.” 

A few minutes later, Peter jumped off his cot when he heard the dulled sound of an explosion from somewhere deep in the tunnels. He had never heard anything like that the whole time he’d been here, it was always so quiet. For the first time in weeks, fear settled into the pit of his stomach. This was finally it. They had been doing nothing but take his blood for so long, but now they were finally going to kill him. He had been stupid to think that they wouldn’t hurt him, they were Hydra agents after all. 

The sound of footsteps was now coming down the hall, getting louder and louder as they approached his cell. Peter crouched down in the corner of the room and covered his face, feeling nothing but pure terror. In another world he would have been braver, but the weeks of isolation had sapped out most of his courage. He just wanted to hide like a terrified child. 

The cell door burst open with a loud blast and Peter hugged his knees tighter, refusing to look up at whoever was coming in. He was too afraid of what he might see. 

“Peter!” A familiar voice rang out.

_ Was that…? No, it must be a trick. It has to be a trick.  _

“Please don’t hurt me!” Peter screamed, his face still pressed against his knees. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, Peter. Come on, look at me.” The same familiar voice. Softer this time.

Slowly, cautiously, Peter lifted his head to see who was speaking. He was terrified that this was all going to turn out to be one sick joke. Fully prepared to lock eyes with a Hydra agent, he looked up and instead locked eyes with Tony Stark. He just stared at him for a few seconds, struggling to believe his own eyes.

“M-mister Stark?” Peter was completely overwhelmed. His voice was watery and his eyes were welling up with tears. It was the first familiar face he had seen in over a month. 

Tony crouched down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, firm and warm and  _ real. _

“I’m here, kid.” He pulled Peter into a strong hug, and that was all it took for Peter to break down. With his head against Tony’s shoulder, he started to cry. The most human contact he had before this was someone sticking a needle in his arm. All of his pent up loneliness and longing exploded from him in a cathartic series of sobs. Tony just stroked his back and let him cry, which was exactly what he needed.

“It’s okay, Peter. I’ve got you.”

Peter didn’t move for another few minutes, afraid that if he did then Tony would somehow disappear. Even when he was done crying, he still just wanted to be held. 

“Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah, Pete?”

“It’s really you, isn’t it?” 

“It’s really me, I promise,” Tony said, pulling back slightly to look Peter in the eyes. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you, but I’m here now. And I’m never going to let anything like this happen again. I swear.”

Peter nodded, his fear and doubt finally subsiding.

“Come on, kid, let’s get out of here. Cap is waiting for us on the Quinjet just outside.”

Peter didn’t need to be told twice. He was more than ready to get out of that cold cell and never look back. He got to his feet on somewhat unsteady legs and followed Tony out of the room, his heart swelling with excitement when he got his first glimpse of sunlight. When they stepped outside, Peter took a moment to admire the view. It really was quite beautiful here in the mountains, despite everything he had been through. Tony looked back and smiled at him, and for the first time in weeks, Peter finally felt like everything was going to be okay.


	8. Stab Wound - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Stab wound  
Words: 1612  
Notes: Superfamily fic, AU where Peter is Steve and Tony’s son but they don’t know that he’s Spider-man. I got a bit carried away with this one, forgive me.  
TW for blood and knives

One thing was absolutely certain: Peter’s dads were going to kill him. It was three hours past his curfew and he still wasn’t home. He had been out patrolling as Spider-Man and had just lost track of time. It was a busy night, and it was hard to think about curfew when there was so much excitement. He had helped stop a car thief, saved a kitten from a tree, and webbed up a man who was trying to steal from an ATM. But now it was 1AM and he was still 10 blocks from home, trying to think of an excuse to tell his parents when he finally got home. They couldn’t know that he was Spider-Man, they would lose it if they found out. He would never be allowed to go out patrolling again. 

Peter had just settled on a lie - he would say that he and Ned lost track of time while working on their new Death Star Lego set - when he heard a woman screaming on the street down below. His own petty worries about missing his curfew vanished and he swung down to the scene. A man wearing a ski mask was holding a knife to a young woman’s throat as he forced her to empty her pockets and purse. She was shaking in terror, but her eyes widened when she saw the one and only Spider-Man sneaking up behind the mugger. 

“Hey, asshole!” Peter said, tapping the man on the shoulder, “How about you try stealing from me, instead? Give yourself a challenge!”

“ _ Shit.” _ He heard the mugger whisper before he dropped the woman’s money and spun around to face Peter. 

“Nice mask,” Peter said, lunging forward to take the man down. It was an easy enough fight, the mugger was really no match for his super strength. He got him pinned against the wall and webbed one of his hands against the bricks. But Peter wasn’t fast enough, and before he could web his other hand, the man sunk his knife deep into Peter’s shoulder. He yanked it out and went in for another stab, this time closer to Peter’s heart. But Peter was faster now, his body pumping with adrenaline, and he was able to web up the man’s free hand before he could wound him again.

Peter didn’t feel anything at first. He just took a few steps back, staring at the man in complete shock. He had gotten his fair share of cuts and bruises in his time as Spider-Man, but he had never been stabbed before. He looked down at where the knife had been and saw a red stain starting to spread radially outward on his blue hoodie. The pain finally registered in his brain he cried out when he felt it, white-hot and terrible. With a last ounce of strength he webbed up the man’s mouth before falling to his knees. 

“Spider-Man!” The woman yelled, running over to him. 

“I’m okay,” Peter said through clenched teeth, feeling very much Not Okay. But despite the intense pain, he knew deep down that he would be fine. His healing factor was already taking over, and the blood flow was slowing down. Still, it hurt like hell. 

“How can I help you? Should I call an ambulance?” 

“No!” Peter responded, sounding harsher than he intended. If he ended up in the hospital then his identity would be revealed and this whole thing would be over. 

“Sorry, I mean, I don’t need an ambulance. I’ll be fine. My building is right over here, anyway.”

Peter got up to his feet and started walking towards his building, clutching his shoulder with his opposite hand. The woman followed him, her face full of concern.

“You’re sure you’re okay, Spider-Man?”

“I’m sure. You just call the police and tell them to come pick up that asshole we left on the wall.”

“Of course, Spider-Man. Here, at least let me get the door for you.”

Peter gave her a tight smile and walked into the building, trying to hide the pain from his face until she turned away. When he was sure that she was gone, he took off his mask and hoodie, his shoulder screaming out in pain at the motion. But it had to be done. His dads couldn’t see him in this outfit. He looked in his backpack and groaned when he saw that all he had was a white shirt. 

_ Great. No chance of hiding the blood. _

He put the white shirt on anyway, hoping he could get away with telling his dads that he had a nosebleed or something. It probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a shot. He got in the elevator and braced himself for the inevitable, the dread growing in his stomach as he ascended the many floors. At least it was taking his mind off the pain in his shoulder. 

When he got upstairs, Peter stood outside the door for a few minutes, not at all ready to face his dads. He pressed his ear against the door and listened, irrationally hoping that they had already gone to bed. That hope was instantly dashed when he heard Tony’s voice through the door. He was very loud and very angry.

“Goddammit, Steve! Stop telling me it’s going to be okay!”

A moment of silence, then Steve’s voice, much softer and gentler than Tony’s had been.

“He’s a smart kid, you know that. He wouldn’t get himself into any trouble.”

Peter’s stomach dropped. His dad had so much faith in him, and here he was getting himself stabbed in the street at one in the morning. 

“Anything could have happened to him! Anything! God, Steve, what if he...what if somone…” Tony broke down before he could finish his sentence. Hearing his father cry like that...it made Peter feel like the worst fuck-up in the world.

Peter couldn’t take another minute of it. He opened the door and walked into the apartment with his head hung low. He didn’t bother to try to hide the blood stain on his shirt, he knew it was a lost cause. Besides, it was hurting him so bad now he didn’t think he could move his arm at all.

“Oh my God,” Steve said, running up to him before he could take two steps into the room. His eyes were fixed on the dark stain of blood on Peter’s shirt. Tony was frozen in place on the other side of the room, staring at him in disbelief. 

“Peter, is that…?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I had a nosebleed?” 

Steve reached out and tilted Peter’s head up, forcing him to look him in the eyes. At the sight of his dad’s concerned face, Peter couldn’t help but break down. It was all too much: the pain, the guilt, the weight of hiding his double life, all of it. Tears spilled down his cheeks and his body started to shake. Naturally, that only made the pain in his shoulder worse and he cried out, unable to mask it any longer.

“Oh, Pete…”

“My...my shoulder,” Peter said, “it hurts so bad.”

Steve gently pulled back the sleeve of Peter’s shirt to reveal the wound underneath. It wasn’t very wide, but it was deep enough that a tendon was visible. Steve looked at it for a moment, his face completely stoic. 

“Peter, honey, we have to go to the hospital, okay?” 

“No!” Peter said, taking a step back, “Please don’t make me go, I just want to stay here.”

Steve sighed and looked back at Tony, who was staring at the wound in Peter’s shoulder with a dark, angry expression on his face. 

“Who did this to you?” Tony asked in a low voice, his eyes still focused on the wound. 

Peter hesitated for a moment, and then decided that he was sick of making up fake stories and lying to his parents about where he’d been. It was time to finally come clean.

“I have to tell you something,” he started, trying to brace himself for their reactions, “I, uh, I got bitten by this spider thing a few months ago and ever since I’ve been able to do weird stuff. Like walk on walls and lift pretty much anything. So I decided to try and use my powers to help people. That’s how I got hurt tonight, trying to help a woman who was getting mugged.”

Peter unzipped his backpack and pulled out his blood stained hoodie and mask, holding it out for his dads to see.

“I’m, um, you know...Spider-Man.”

The words hung in the air for a few moments. Peter braced himself for the yelling and lecturing to start.

“Peter. We’re going to the hospital.” Tony’s voice was shockingly quiet and gentle. 

“I really don’t want --” Peter protested.

“Enough. We’re going right now,” Steve said, grabbing the car keys from the kitchen table.

Peter looked back and forth from each of them, trying to understand why they weren’t screaming at him. 

“But what about --” he started, but was cut off by Tony.

“Later. We’ll talk about all of this later. After you’re all fixed up.”

Peter nodded, beyond grateful. He was already so overwhelmed, he didn’t think he’d be able to handle having to fully explain himself right now. Besides, his shoulder was hurting so bad now that the hospital didn’t seem so bad anymore.

“Okay,” Peter said quietly, “yeah, okay. The hospital.”

Peter knew that there would be a very long, probably unpleasant conversation about all of this later. But for right now, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. And that was enough.


	9. Shackled - Irondad (pt 1/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: shackled  
Words: 877  
Notes: Irondad - this will be a 2 parter continued tomorrow.  
TW for blood and guns.

Tony groaned and begrudgingly opened his eyes. It was two in the morning, and for some ungodly reason his phone was ringing. It seemed like every time he was actually getting a good night’s sleep for once, something just had to interrupt it. He picked up his phone and answered without looking at the Caller ID, his mind still in a sleepy haze.

“This better be good,” he said through a dramatic yawn.

“M-mister Stark?”

Suddenly, Tony wasn’t sleepy anymore. The only time the kid ever called this late was for emergencies. Besides, Tony didn’t have to be fully awake to recognize the fear in Peter’s voice.

“Pete? What’s wrong?” He was already out of bed, note wanting to waste any time if Peter was in serious danger.

“The guy I was going after, you know, the big weapons dealer guy? I think I underestimated him.”

Tony sucked in his breath. “The guy I specifically told you not go after?” 

“I really need your help, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, ignoring the question, “I’m kind of stuck.”

“What do you mean ‘ _ stuck _ ’, kid?”

“Well, I might have ended up getting handcuffed to a fence. I think they’re electromagnetic or something because I can’t break them.”

Tony sighed and stepped into his Iron Man suit, transferring the call to FRIDAY and tracking Peter’s location. “I’m on my way, kid.”

Tony was feeling both relieved and confused as he flew on autopilot towards Peter’s location. If Peter went after that weapons dealer and lost to him in a fight, he really should be dead. That guy was absolutely ruthless, and Tony couldn’t figure out why he would chain the kid up instead of just killing him. The thought that it might be a trap briefly crossed his mind, but he didn’t really care. Even if it was, he would never leave Peter out on his own like that. Either way, he was still more relieved than anything. Peter had gone after the most powerful weapons dealer in the city and wasn’t dead.

“Looks like I’ll be there in about 15 minutes, okay?”

“15 minutes?” Peter asked, suddenly sounding more nervous and upset, “Are you sure you can’t get here faster?”

“I’m going as fast as I can, kiddo. You’ll be okay, right?”

There was a brief moment of silence before Peter responded. “Yeah, I think so. It’s just that...I guess I should have told you this sooner, but he, uh, he shot me in the leg.” 

Tony’s stomach dropped. Everything made sense now. That psychopath hadn’t decided to let Peter live, he had chained him to a fence and left him to bleed out and die. And it was so typical of Peter to bury the lead like that. He had a knack for trying to pretend he wasn’t really hurt when he was. 

“Is one of your hands free? Can you put pressure on it?” Tony wasn’t about to waste time lecturing Peter now. 

“Yeah, he only cuffed one of my hands. I’ve been pressing on it as hard as I can but I don’t think it’s working. There’s still so much blood.”

_ Shit _ .  _ Must have hit an artery. _

“FRIDAY, enter emergency double power mode.” 

Tony’s suit lurched forward from the sudden increase in power. He was going to get to Peter as soon as possible, even if he fried the circuits in his suit. 

“I’ll be there in seven minutes. Just keep putting pressure on it, okay?”

“I’m trying, Mr. Stark...I’m just starting to feel a little woozy. Oh god, that’s really a lot of blood.” 

Tony wanted to throw up. The thought of the kid laying there all alone, watching himself bleed out, was like a scene ripped straight out of Tony’s nightmares.

“You’re going to be okay, Pete. I promise. You’ve just gotta stay awake for me.” Tony didn’t know whether he was talking to Peter or to himself. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost him. It would be unbearable. Whether he intended for it to happen or not, Peter had become his kid. Which made it his responsibility to make sure he was safe. Of course, the kid insisting on swinging around the city fighting crime at all hours of the night made that a difficult task. 

It was silent for a few moments, and Tony could hear his own heartbeat loud in his skull. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous.

“You still there, kid?” He asked, trying not to sound too panicky. He didn’t want to freak him out anymore than he already was.

“Hmm? Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” Peter said sleepily. He sounded like he was completely out of it.

“Just keep your eyes open, okay? Think you can do that for another couple of minutes?”

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Stark…” Peter’s voice got quiet and trailed off. 

“Pete?”

No answer.

“Peter? C’mon, kid. Answer me.”

Again, no answer.

_ No. Nonononono. Please. _

He was still five minutes away and Peter wasn’t responding. Less than 20 minutes ago, he was sleeping peacefully in his bed and now his world was crashing down around him. It all felt like a sick joke. But he wasn’t going to give up on his kid. Not now, not ever.

_ To be continued.  _


	10. Unconscious - Irondad (pt 2/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Unconscious  
Words: 591  
Notes: Irondad, sequel to chapter 9  
TW blood

After five minutes that felt more like five hours, Tony landed on the sidewalk where Peter laid in a pool of his own blood with one arm handcuffed to the fence. His mask was torn off and one of his eyes was black and puffy. It had never been more clear to Tony that he was still just a kid, despite his powers. He felt a well of anger rise up from his stomach. The fact that some asshole had just left Peter out on the street like trash made him want to burn the whole city to the ground. But his rage would have to wait. Right now all that mattered was getting Peter to the medbay as fast as possible. Tony’s most trusted doctors had already been notified and were waiting for them back at headquarters. 

Tony knelt down next to Peter and reached out to feel his neck for a pulse, letting out a deep sigh of relief when he felt it - too fast and too irregular, but it was there. He used a laser to cut the handcuffs in half, finally freeing Peter from the restraints. He scooped Peter up into his arms and held him close against his chest as he took off from the scene and set his suit on autopilot towards HQ. There was no time to waste, not when Peter had lost so much blood. He felt so fragile in Tony’s arms. 

“You’re gonna be just fine,” Tony said, knowing full well that Peter couldn’t hear him, “You have to be, okay?” He held him a little tighter, hoping desperately that it wouldn’t be the last time. If he made it through this, Peter was going to get more hugs than he ever bargained for. 

Luckily, they were only a few minutes away from the medbay and the Iron Man suit managed to keep up the emergency power surge long enough for them to get there. But from the sounds it was making, Tony knew the suit was toast. A small price to pay for the life of his kid. 

The doctors Tony had asked for were waiting for them at the entrance, and they took Peter from his arms and onto a stretcher faster than he could even process. He knew intellectually it was for the best, but the feeling of his injured kid being taken away from him was like a dagger to the heart. 

XxxxxxX

Two agonizing hours later, Dr. Paulson came out of the operating room with a smile on his face, and Tony nearly fell to his knees in relief. 

“You can come in and see him now if you want. He’s still going to be out for a while, we want him to sleep for as long as possible.”

Tony thanked the doctor and walked into the hospital room, where the steady beeping of the heart monitor was like music to his ears. Peter looked so small and pale laying there in the hospital bed, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

“Hey, Pete,” he said, sitting down in the chair next to Peter’s bed and gently grabbing his hand, “You really scared me there, kid.”

Tony leaned forward and kissed Peter’s forehead, taking a moment to smooth back his hair and wipe some dirt from his face. 

“I know you probably can’t hear me, but maybe a part of you can. I want you to know that I’m here. And I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise. I’m not going anywhere.” 


	11. Stitches - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Stitches  
Words: 1164  
Notes: Canon-adjacent Irondad, TW for blood

“That was so awesome, Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed, looking down at the three alien creatures they had just defeated together. He was so proud that Tony was finally letting him go on more intense missions. He had proved himself as a superhero and there was no greater validation that being asked for help by Iron Man himself. The idea of Spider-Man was starting to feel like less and less of a joke. He wasn’t just a kid swinging around the city in footie pajamas anymore, he was a real superhero and he was actually making a difference. 

“You know what, it was pretty awesome. You did good, kid,” Tony said, making Peter swell with pride. He didn’t think he’d ever get over that fact that  _ Iron Man _ was complimenting him, a geeky kid from Queens. 

Peter was on such a high from the excitement of the fight that it was easy enough to ignore the searing pain in his back. It really wasn’t that bad, or at least that’s what he told himself. Probably just a scratch, nothing to worry about. But if it was just a scratch, why did it feel like so much blood was pooling up in the back of his suit? He’d just have to figure that out later. He didn’t want Mr. Stark to know that he had gotten hurt. He had seemed so proud of him, and Peter didn’t want to ruin it by admitting that one of the aliens had managed to get him with its claws. Besides, Mr. Stark had enough to worry about already, and a scratch on Peter’s back really didn’t need to be added to that list. 

“Come on, kid, let’s get you home,” Tony said, “hopefully the jet is still where we parked it.”

Peter tried taking a step forward and couldn’t hold back a wince. The movement tugged at the wound in his back and sent a fiery wave of pain through his body. He couldn’t ignore it anymore, and it definitely wasn’t just a scratch. He wanted so badly to put on a brave face and fight through the pain without Mr. Stark knowing, but it looked like it was already too late; Mr. Stark had definitely heard him wince.

“You okay, Pete?”

“Oh yeah, I’m totally fine, Mr. Stark.”

Tony frowned at him and looked him up and down. “You sure? You’re looking a little pale.”

“I’m just, uh, cold, I think,” Peter said, an obvious lie.

“Uh huh,” Tony said quizzically, “how about you turn around for me?”

Peter swallowed hard, knowing he had been caught. “It’s nothing, just a scratch,” he said, turning around to show Tony his back.

There was a long moment of silence.

“Peter...you’re covered in blood,” Tony said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. 

“Oh, am I?” Peter said, and tried to laugh it off. But that was a huge mistake. Laughing made the pain in his back so much worse, and it quickly turned into a groan. 

“Come on, tough guy,” Tony said, reaching out an arm for Peter to lean on, “let’s get back to the jet and I’ll fix you up.”

Peter nodded, sick of pretending like he wasn’t in pain. He grit his teeth and let Tony take most of his weight as they slowly made their way back to the jet. It made him feel like such a failure, having Mr. Stark practically carry him away from the fight. 

“Alright, let me take a look,” Tony said when they finally made it onto the jet. He gently peeled back the Spider-Man suit to reveal the wound underneath. It was a long, deep gash, running from the top of his left shoulder all the way to the middle of his back. Without his healing factor, he probably would have lost enough blood to make him pass out by this point.

“You’re gonna be okay, kid. I’ll just need to give you a few stitches.”

Peter felt his stomach turn. Ever since he was a little boy and he split his chin open falling off his bike, he hated getting stitches. It somehow never got easier. 

“Uh, are you sure? I think it’ll be fine, I heal fast.”

Tony sighed, “I know you heal fast but I’m not going to let you sit here with an open gash on your back. It’ll be fast, okay? I promise.”

Peter nodded and closed his eyes, knowing it was no use to protest any further. He hissed and clenched his jaw when he felt the sting of the rubbing alcohol. God, this was not going to be fun. He kept his eyes squeezed shut when Tony started working on the stitches, knowing that the sight of a needle would make him queasier than he already was. 

“See? You’re doing great. I’m already halfway there.”

Peter took a deep breath and let Tony continue. He was surprised at how fast it seemed to be going. All the other times he had gotten stitches it had felt like it was going on forever. 

“All done. Was that so bad?”

“Not really,” Peter mumbled. 

“Good. I want you to rest for a couple days, okay? No fights.” 

Peter nodded and stared at the ground. It felt like this was the beginning of the end. Mr. Stark wouldn’t trust him to be a good superhero anymore and he knew it.

“Now, can you tell me why you tried to pretend like you weren’t hurt?”

Peter really didn’t want to answer that question. “I told you, I hardly felt it. I thought it was a scratch.”

“Cut the bullshit, Pete,” Tony said, “I just put 20 stitches in your back, I know you felt it.”

Peter looked up at Tony, knowing he couldn’t lie anymore. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I just didn’t want you to be disappointed.” 

“Disappointed? Are you kidding me?”

Peter looked back down at the ground, feeling like an idiot.

“Peter, listen. I was so proud of you today. You fought well, you were brave, and you saved my ass more than once. Do you really think a cut on your back would disappoint me?”

“I...I just…” Peter was at a loss for words. He wasn’t used to Tony being this direct. 

“You’re going to get hurt out there, Peter. It comes with the job. But what you can’t do is lie to me about it, or try to hide when you’re hurting.”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me,” Peter said.

Tony laughed softly. “I worry about you all the time, kid. No matter what you do. But if I think that you’re hiding things like this from me...I’m only going to worry more.”

Peter knew that Tony was right. Walking around with a huge gash in his back and not saying anything was stupid. 

“You’re not mad?”

“No, Pete. Like I said, you did good today.”

Peter smiled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”


	12. Don't Move - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “Don’t move”  
Words: 1099  
Notes: Stony, TW explosions

Tony saw it before Steve did. Directly above Steve’s head there was a blinking red light accompanied by a faint ticking sound. It could only mean one thing. A bomb was about to go off right above his boyfriend’s head. Tony opened his mouth to warn him, but it was too late. The sound of the explosion was deafening. Tony was thrown backwards by the blast, screaming Steve’s name until he hit the ground head first and the world went black. 

When he came to, a large piece of rock was sitting on his chest, severely restricting his breathing. It felt like he was breathing through a narrow straw, but that was the least of his concerns right now. 

“Steve,” he hissed into his comms device, “Steve, come in.”

No response. Of course. A bomb had gone off two feet from his head. 

Tony groaned and managed to push the rock off his chest, coughing harshly when he could breathe properly again. 

“Steve,” he said again, his voice firm and loud. “Come in, Captain.”

Again, no response. Tony could feel the panic bubbling up in his chest. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost Steve. They had spent years avoiding their feelings, but now they were finally together and they were so  _ happy _ . Tony never thought he could possibly deserve something like this, but he had it now and he wasn’t going to let it slip away. 

“JARVIS, I need a location on Captain America.”

“I’m sorry, sir. It appears his tracker has gone offline.”

_ Fuck.  _ That meant his suit was badly damaged. As for the man inside...Tony didn’t want to think about that right now.

“Sir, I have identified a heat signature roughly matching the Captain’s height and weight 22 feet to your left.”

“Oh, bless you, JARVIS,” Tony said, climbing over a large rock and moving towards the heat signature. As he got closer, he spotted the bottom of a blue boot sticking out from beneath the rubble. 

“Steve!” He called out, hoping desperately for a response. 

It was silent for a moment, and Tony felt his heart sink. But then, out of the rubble, he heard a low groan.  _ Steve. _

“I’m coming, babe,” he said, moving faster now. The rocks were shifting on top of Steve’s body, which meant he must be trying to crawl out. Tony was about to push a large rock out of the way to get through when JARVIS spoke up again.

“Sir!” The AI said in a tone reserved for emergencies only, “I have detected another bomb approximately six inches away from Captain America’s shoulder. Be advised that any movement could set it off.”

Tony froze, the words ringing in his ears. Any relief he had felt from hearing Steve groan moments ago was whisked away and replaced by pure terror. One wrong move, one wrong shift in the rocks, could cause another explosion. And Tony didn’t think they would be quite so lucky the second time.

“Steve! Don’t move!” Tony shouted, his heart beating loud in his chest. “There’s another bomb!”

The shifting in the rocks stopped, and Tony took a ginger step forward. As terrified as he was of setting the bomb off, he knew he had to get to it so he could defuse it and this whole nightmare could be over. But every step he took was another risk and he hated knowing that he was putting Steve in more danger just by walking. 

“Tony…” he heard from under the rocks, the voice gravely and weak. For one of the first times Tony could remember, Steve sounded genuinely afraid. 

“It’s gonna be okay, babe, I promise,” Tony said, sounding much less sure of himself than he intended. It was hard to sound confident when he was so utterly terrified. 

He was getting closer to the bomb, tiny step by tiny step, “I’m almost there, okay?”

“Please be careful, Tony. If you get yourself blown up trying to save me, I...I don’t know what I would do.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t you worry about me.” Tony looked down and saw Steve’s left hand sticking out of the rubble. He reached for it and gave it a hard, reassuring squeeze. Even now, with all the chaos and terror, he still marveled at how well Steve’s hand fit in his own. It made him feel like they were made for each other, and despite all the rational parts of his brain protesting, he sometimes thought that might be true. He would get himself blown up a million times over if it meant saving Steve. No questions asked. 

A few moments later Tony was staring down at the bomb, working up the courage to pick it up and diffuse it. It looked simple enough, he figured he could probably get it done in less than a minute. But he could easily set it off while he worked. The thought was absolutely terrifying. He wished he could see Steve’s face right now. It was the one thing in the world that never failed to make him feel safe, or at least  _ safer.  _

With one last glance to Steve’s hand for courage, Tony picked up the bomb as delicately as possible and got to work removing wires and fuses. It wasn’t easy, but it was nothing compared to what Tony was capable of, even under this much pressure. 

After 45 seconds of careful work, he pulled the last wire and the red light on the bomb turned off. Tony let out the breath he had been holding the entire time and dropped the now harmless bomb to the ground as a rush of relief swept over him. They were going to get the hell out of here and they were going to be okay. 

“I told you I’d be careful,” Tony said as he started moving rocks off of Steve, “And you know I never like to let you down.”

Steve laughed, and it was the most beautiful thing Tony had ever heard. From being terrified for both of their lives just minutes earlier to now hearing his boyfriend laugh, it was a moment of intense emotional whiplash that sent Tony into tears. He helped Steve up from the ground and pulled him into a tight hug. 

“I can’t believe you’re okay,” Tony said, his voice breaking.

“Of course I’m okay,” Steve said, pulling back to look Tony in the eyes, “You promised, remember?”

Tony smiled and kissed him hard, tasting blood and dirt and  _ Steve. _ It still made his heart flutter like it was the first time.


	13. Adrenaline - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Adrenaline  
Words: 942  
Notes: Irondad, AU where Tony survived Endgame, TW for explosions and blood

Peter glanced at the timer on his watch and swallowed hard. 12 minutes. God, how was he going to get there in time? 12 minutes until the building where Tony Stark was being held against his will would blow, and Peter was still blocks away, swinging through the city at top speed. Part of him thought it was impossible, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins kept him focused and determined, albeit a little shaky. He was going to save Tony if it was the last thing he ever did. Tony had risked everything to bring him back after the snap, and Peter would be damned if he let that sacrifice go to waste. 

Everything had been so good since that fateful day of their final battle against Thanos. It was complicated and messy, yes, bringing billions of people back to life didn’t come without its problems. But families and friends had been reuinited, and everyone was working hard to restore some sense of normalcy to the world. It made the terror of that day completely worth it. 

Peter still had nightmares about that battle, though. Seeing Tony on the verge of death would haunt him forever. He had been so sure that he was going to lose him. HIs heart had stopped beating for a full minute, and if it wasn’t for a little help from Mjolnir, Tony wouldn’t be alive right now. 

And if Peter didn’t somehow move  _ faster _ , Tony wouldn’t be alive in nine minutes. He couldn’t let that happen. He thought of Morgan, the little girl who had become a sister to him even faster than Tony had become like a father to him. She wasn’t going to grow up without a dad. Peter knew what that was like and he would rather die than let that happen to Morgan. Selfishly, he also thought of himself. He had his own bedroom at the farmhouse and got to go to family dinner every Sunday. It was the kind of life he never thought he could have, and he desperately didn’t want to lose it. 

He glanced at his watch again. 6 minutes. His lungs were burning from the exertion but he hardly felt it. He could see the abandoned warehouse in the distance now and he was starting to think that he might actually be able to make it. He might actually be able to save Tony. 

“Come on Peter,” he said to himself in a breathless whisper, “you can do it, you can get there. Tony needs you.”

5 minutes.  _ I’ve gotta go faster. _

4 minutes.  _ Oh God, what if I can’t find him once I get there? _

3 minutes.  _ What if he’s already dead? _

With two and a half minutes left on the clock, Peter swung into the warehouse, smashing through a window feet first. There was no time to diffuse the bombs, all he could do was find Tony and get them the hell out of there. He just hoped it was possible. 

The warehouse was large, but it was mostly empty, so Peter was able to spot the crumpled form of a man in the far corner almost instantly.  _ Please be Tony. Please please please. _

He swung across the warehouse in a wide arc and landed next to the man. Carefully turning him over, Peter had to suppress a sob when he saw Tony’s face. He was badly bruised and covered in blood, but the missing arm confirmed that it was definitely Tony. He was out cold, but the shaky rise and fall of his chest was all Peter needed to see. 

Peter lifted Tony over his shoulder as if he hardly weighed more than a loaf of bread. Feeling more thankful for his powers than ever before, he made a break for the exit. He knocked the doors down with one kick, the feeble lock snapping in half on impact. 

They barely made it 20 feet away from the warehouse when Peter’s watch beeped and a deafening explosion followed. Peter was knocked to the ground by the blow and he cursed when he felt Tony slip out of his arms. Rubble and glass rained down around them and Peter crawled on top of Tony, shielding his body from the destruction. His squeezed his eyes shut and waited it out, his Spider-Man suit protecting him from the shards of glass that seemed to be falling from the sky.

After a few minutes, everything calmed down and Peter rolled off of Tony. He turned him onto his back and carefully picked out a shard of glass from his cheek. He couldn’t believe they had actually made it out in time. If he was ten seconds later they both would have been blown to bits. 

A moment later, Tony jerked awake, coughing up the dirt in his lungs. Peter helped him sit up and held his shoulders, trying to help him come back to reality. 

“Mr. Stark? It’s okay, it’s me,” Peter said. He hardly ever called Tony Mr. Stark anymore. It usually only slipped out when he was waking up from a nightmare. But the intense combination of relief and fear made him revert back to the old name. 

“Peter…” Tony said once he was done coughing, staring at him in disbelief.

Peter nodded and pulled him into a tight hug, finally breaking down and sobbing against his shoulder like a little kid. It felt just like when Tony had started breathing again after the battle against Thanos. Amazing and terrifying and completely overwhelming. 

“Hey, Pete. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Tony said softly, the exact same words he had used after Thanos. 

“You promise?”

“I promise.”


	14. Tear-stained - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Tear-stained  
Words: 848  
Notes: Stony, set after Civil War, really more angst than whump but I thought I’d spice it up a bit.  
WARNING - MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH

T’Challa handed Steve the envelope and quietly walked out of the room with a somber look on his face. Steve’s heart nearly stopped when he saw the handwriting on the front, unmistakably Tony’s. It had been 15 months since Siberia, and he hadn’t heard a thing from Tony since. He spent hours staring at that stupid phone, desperately hoping it would ring. Of course it never did. That was, until a few days ago when Steve woke up to see he had a missed call, though there was no voicemail and nobody answered when he tried calling back. 

He hastily tore open the envelope and frowned when he saw that the letter inside seemed to be stained with tears. But his heart sank even deeper when he started reading.

_ Steve, _

_ If you’re reading this, that means I’m dead. There’s a mission tomorrow that I don’t think I’ll make it back from, and I wanted a chance to say goodbye. I tried calling but you didn’t pick up and I couldn’t bring myself to leave a voicemail. This seemed easier, even if that makes me a selfish asshole. I really wish things were different so that I could say a proper goodbye, face to face. I wish things were different for a lot of reasons, actually. Everything was so much better before, well, you know.  _

_ I’ve had a lot of time to stew in my anger. It didn’t get me anywhere. Eventually I ran out of energy for that bullshit. And now I just miss you, as much as I hate to admit it. No use lying about it now, to you or to myself. I wish you were here every single day, Steve. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about you. I always wonder where you are, what you’re doing, and if you’re okay. I really hope you’re okay. You have no idea how much I worry about you. And why would you? It’s not like I ever told you how much I cared. I regret that now, more than anything. _

_ I was always so afraid of my feelings. I thought they would destroy me, and maybe I was right about that. But looking back, I think trying to suppress them only made it worse. I was a powder keg ready to explode when we got into that fight. A match was lit and I blew. Maybe if I hadn’t been bottling everything up for so long it wouldn’t have been so bad. I think about that a lot. About all the ways it could have been different. God, I just wish it was different.  _

_ The truth is, I felt so betrayed by you because I was in love with you. I can’t believe I’m admitting that, but I have nothing left to lose anymore. I never told you because I was so sure you would laugh in my face and our friendship would be destroyed forever. I thought I’d rather have some of you than risk having none of you. And look how that turned out. I’m sorry I never told you. I’m sorry I’m telling you now in a letter that you’ll never have a chance to respond to. It’s unfair to you, but I couldn’t let you live the rest of your life never knowing how I really felt all these years.  _

_ I still love you, I think. Is it possible to love someone you haven’t spoken to in over a year? I guess it is, because if what I feel in my chest every time I think about you isn’t some twisted form of love, then I don’t know what it is. At the very least, I hope you know that I never hated you and I don’t hate you now. I don’t think I ever could, no matter what you did or how ugly things got between us. The way I feel about you runs deeper than that, even if I never told you.  _

_ I hope you have a good life, Steve. I really do. I hope one day you can come out of hiding and live in peace. I hope you don’t keep fighting forever. As much as the Earth needs you, I think you need a taste of a normal life, too. Maybe that seems impossible right now, but I know you can make it work. You deserve to make it work.  _

_ Yours, _

_ Tony  _

_ P.S. Look after that Spider kid for me, will you? _

Steve didn’t know what to do. He was standing frozen in the middle of the room, clutching the letter tightly in his hands. He didn’t realize that he was crying until he saw the new teardrops on the page, his fresh tears mixing with Tony’s old ones. He couldn’t believe Tony was really gone. All this time, he had thought that eventually they would make up and everything would be okay again. But now that was impossible. It would never be okay again, and he would never get to tell Tony that he felt the same way. And he would regret that forever.


	15. Scars - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Scars  
Words: 763  
Notes: Stony, another more angst/fluff than whump fic (really just fluff, who am I kidding). Think of it as a whump-flavored LaCroix. I promise we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled whump tomorrow.

Reminder that I’m open to requests/suggestions! Prompt list is  [ here ](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/post/187356400823/october-approaches-and-so-does-whumptober-2019) .

Steve didn’t think he’d ever get used to this. In fact, he  _ knew _ he would never get used to this. Laying in bed, limbs entwined, his head on Tony’s bare chest. It was still so new, whatever this was. He didn’t know if he could really call it a relationship, but it was definitely more than just sex. At least, he hoped it was more than just sex. You didn’t fall asleep like this, completely entangled together, if it was just sex. Laying with him like this felt more intimate, more  _ real _ , than sex could ever be. It was Steve’s favorite part of the day, laying here listening to Tony’s heartbeat. 

The first few times they had slept together, Steve had been so overwhelmed and excited that it was hard to be present in the moment. Everything passed by him in a hazy, wonderful blur. But now he was starting to become more comfortable. He felt like he belonged here, like he had  _ always _ belonged here. It was easier to be there, completely present, and he started to notice little details about Tony that he had never noticed before. Every time it was something new. The way he smelled a little bit like firewood, the way his hair curled at the back of his neck, the way tiny flecks of gold seemed to shine in his eyes. Knowing these little details made him feel more connected to Tony, like they were entwined together more than just physically. 

This time, he noticed the faint pattern of scars that covered Tony’s chest. He couldn’t believe he had never noticed them before. It must have been something about the light that made them visible, or maybe he was just looking closer than he ever had before. It was probably both. It was strangely beautiful, the intricate pattern etched into Tony’s skin. But it made his heart ache, thinking about all the ways he could have gotten them. He started tracing a line with his finger, gently following a scar that went up across Tony’s shoulder. 

“Tony? You awake?” He asked quietly, not wanting to wake him if he was already asleep.

“Mhmm,” Tony mumbledd.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” Tony said, his voice laden with sleepiness.

Steve ignored his quip. “I was just wondering where all these scars came from,” he said, moving his finger to a new scar and tracing the line down to Tony’s hip.

Tony was quiet for a moment, his breathing slow and steady.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Steve started, feeling guilty for asking, “I was only --”

“No, it’s okay,” Tony said, cutting him off. “It’s just that no one has ever asked me that before.” 

“Really?” Steve asked, genuinely surprised. He was fully aware of how much Tony had gotten around in his day, so it was hard to believe that not a single person had ever asked. 

“I mean, it’s kind of a weird thing to ask on a first date,” Tony said with a quiet laugh, “and I was never really the type for a repeat visit, until, well, you know…”

Steve smiled. He liked knowing that he was one of Tony’s few repeat offenders. 

“Anyway, they’re mostly from Afghanistan,” Tony said in a casual tone which made Steve’s heart twinge a little. He hated hearing about Afghanistan. Thinking about what had happened to him never failed to make him angry, but now Tony was mentioning it like it was nothing. It would never be nothing to Steve. 

“The shrapnel got me everywhere, but some of the longer ones are from good old fashioned torture.”

Steve winced. Tony had never mentioned anything other than waterboarding. To think about those assholes holding him down and slicing him open...it was awful. He silently vowed to make sure nothing like that ever happened to him again. 

“Assholes,” Steve said simply.

“Watch your language,” Tony said with a laugh. “That was so long ago, anyway. They’re just old scars now, not a big deal.”

“I know,” Steve said, his finger lingering on the spot where Tony’s arc reactor used to be, “I just wish that had never happened to you.”

“I don’t,” Tony said, placing his hand on top of Steve’s, “because then I never would have met you.” 

“I never thought about it that way,” Steve said, turning his head to look Tony in the eyes. “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I’m right.” Tony leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. “Now come on, let’s go to sleep.”


	16. Pinned Down - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Pinned Down  
Words: 1094  
Notes: Irondad, set shortly after Homecoming. TW for mentions of anxiety/panic attacks

It’s been two weeks since his run in with the Vulture, and Peter is still having nightmares. It shouldn’t be surprising, really. Superpowers or not, he;s still a barely 16 year old kid who had a building dropped on top of him. Of course he didn’t see it that way, though. He was supposed to be a hero like Iron Man, and yet he couldn’t even make it through a fight with one measly villain without getting nightmares and panic attacks afterwards. He felt absolutely pathetic. How was he ever going to fight anything more than one guy with some makeshift alien tech? There were so many more threats out there, armies of alien monsters that could wipe out the whole planet if they wanted to. If he ever wanted to be a real hero, he’d have to be able to step up and stop being a scared little kid. 

The nightmares are all the same. The building collapses on top of him and he desperately tries to get out from under the rubble. But he’s pinned down under a huge slab of concrete and he can hardly breathe, let alone move. That’s the scariest part, the lack of air. He’s not so afraid of cuts and bruises and broken bones - those will all heal, after all. But more than a couple minutes without oxygen and he’s gone. Unlike reality, in the dream he never makes it out. He struggles under the concrete until the world starts to go black, and then he wakes up, gasping for air. He never wants to go back to sleep after that, so he’s been lucky if he can get more than 4 hours a night. That’s probably why he drifts off in the back of the car with Mr. Stark while they’re headed to the lab to work on some improvements to Peter’s suit. 

It’s happening again. The building is coming down around him. Chunks of rock and concrete are hitting him from every angle, knocking the wind out of him and probably breaking a few of his bones in the process. He’s just as terrified as he was the first time. The weight is piling down on top of him and it’s getting harder to breathe. His leg is trapped under a slab of concrete, completely immobile. He’s trying to yank it out but the weight just keeps piling on, more and more until he can’t breathe at all. He tries to scream but he doesn’t have enough air. 

Out of nowhere, he hears a voice. It’s calm and gentle, but clear as day.  _ Peter. _ Somebody’s here! Someone can help him. He tries to call out for help but he can’t make his voice work. There’s the voice again, more insistent this time. It sounds familiar.  _ Peter. Wake up. _ Wake up? But he’s not asleep, he’s trapped under a building trying to fight his way out. It doesn’t make any sense.  _ Come on, kid. You’re just dreaming.  _ This can’t be a dream. It all felt real. He can  _ feel _ the weight on top of him, he can _ feel  _ his lungs screaming for air. But now he can feel a warm hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. 

His eyes snap open, and suddenly he can breathe again. He gasps for air as he frantically looks around, trying to figure out where he is. It always takes him a while after he wakes up to fully realize that he’s not trapped under the building anymore. But he’s usually in his own bed, and that helps. This definitely isn’t his bed. It looks like a car, why is he in a car? And why is it so fancy?

“Peter.” He hears that voice again, but he knows it now.  _ Mr. Stark. _ He’s still breathing heavily, but he relaxes slightly into the seat. He must have fallen asleep on the way to the lab.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” he says quietly, “Sorry I fell asleep on you.” 

“You were screaming.”

_ Shit. _ He doesn’t want Mr. Stark to know about the nightmares, it’s too embarrassing. 

“Was I?” He says, trying to play dumb.

Mr. Stark looks at him quizzically for a moment. “Cut the shit, kid.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I know a nightmare when I see one.”

Peter looks down at the ground, knowing he couldn’t lie about it anymore.

“Want to tell me what it was about?”

“Not really,” Peter mumbles. 

Mr. Stark shifts closer to him and puts his hand on his shoulder, gentle but firm. “I think you might feel better if you do.”

Peter swallows hard and decides he’s sick of hiding everything. The nightmares and panic attacks are enough on their own without the added pressure of trying to pretend like they weren’t happening. 

“I’ve been having nightmares about that Vulture guy,” Peter admits. “I never told you this but when I was fighting him he, uh, he kind of dropped a building on me. That’s what I dream about most of the time.”

Mr. Stark stares at him in silence for a moment. He seems angry. “He dropped a  _ building _ on you?”

Peter nods. “It collapsed on top of me. I didn’t think I’d be able to get out. I could barely breathe and I...I was so terrified,” he says in a small voice.

“Of course you were,” Mr. Stark says matter-of-factly, “who wouldn’t be?”

Peter looks up at him, “but I have superpowers. What good am I if I get scared so easily?”

“Listen, kid. Your powers aren’t going to make anything less scary. Everyone gets scared. I get scared all the time.”

Peter lets that sink in for a moment. “Really?”

“Yes, really. You should have seen me after New York. I was a mess. Nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks, you name it.”

“Oh.” It’s never even crossed Peter’s mind that he might have experienced something similar. “Did it ever get better?”

“Of course,” Mr. Stark says with a gentle smile, “but only after I finally admitted that something was wrong and talked to someone about it.”

“I’m really sick of it,” Peter says with a sigh, “I just want to be able to sleep.”

“I know. You must be tired.”

“I’m exhausted.”

Mr. Stark wraps an arm around his back and pulls him closer, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. Peter’s too tired to protest.

“Try to get some sleep. I’ll wake you up if you have another nightmare.”

Peter closes his eyes and drifts off almost instantly, feeling more comfortable and safe than he has in weeks. 


	17. "Stay with me" - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “Stay with me”  
Words: 1227  
Notes: Irondad, Endgame fixit

The rush of unimaginable power flowing through his body was unlike anything he had ever felt. Liquid fire was exploding in every one of his cells burning him up from the inside out. But it was more intense than painful. His mind was overwhelmed with a sense of satisfaction and determination that wiped out any other feelings. He had one mission: snap his fingers and destroy Thanos and his army. Nothing more, nothing less. He knew it would destroy him. Just wearing the glove was already destroying him. But it didn’t matter. Steve’s words were playing on repeat in his head:  _ Whatever it takes. _

If he was going to die, he was going to go out in style. It took nearly all of his strength to form the words, but he managed to say them with conviction and clarity. He wanted that big purple asshole to know exactly what was hitting him. Besides, he wouldn’t be Tony Stark if he didn’t come out with a zinger, even at the end of it all. 

“And I...am...Iron Man.”

He snapped his fingers, and his vision instantly went white as the power surged through his body. For a few seconds, the world was nothing but blinding white light and a deafening high pitched noise. He forgot about Thanos, he forgot about the battle, he even forgot about himself. He was nothing more than an entity floating in the light, perfectly content and peaceful. It was a kind of oblivion, and he wanted to stay there forever. 

Almost as fast as it had come, the light and the noise faded away and Tony returned to reality to find himself laying in the dirt. The entire right half of his body was numb and he felt so weak and tired, like he was barely hanging on. The very act of being conscious was quickly draining whatever energy his body had left. He didn’t have enough energy to even care that he was dying. Putting up a fight seemed like too much work. 

Someone was coming up to him, saying something that he couldn’t make out. His vision was blurry, and echoes of the high pitched noise were still ringing in his ears. But he would recognize that face and that voice anywhere.  _ Peter.  _ In all the commotion of battle and intensity of wielding the stones, Tony had almost forgotten that Peter was alive. He managed a tiny smile, the corners of his mouth just barely turning up. The kid who he had watched turn to dust on a barren planet so long ago was here now, alive and whole. After years of grief and overwhelming guilt, it seemed impossible that Peter was here, right in front of him. It made everything worth it. 

Peter was close to him now, gently touching the unburned side of his face. Despite everything, Tony could just barely feel the warmth of his hand. It distracted him from the numbness and helped him focus. He could hear Peter better now, and he could see his face more clearly. God, the kid looked devastated. 

“Mr. Stark? Please don’t go, please just stay with me.”

Tony latched onto his voice, clinging onto the words like they were the only things keeping him attached to reality. As much as he wanted to close his eyes and let the world fade away, he didn’t want  _ Peter _ to fade away. He wanted to keep listening to him, every word another reminder that his kid was  _ alive. _

“You have to be okay, Mr. Stark. Please be okay. I-I can’t lose you.”

As happy as he was to see Peter alive, Tony hated seeing him so upset and afraid. He wanted nothing more than to stand up and pull him into the tightest hug of his life. But he couldn’t even lift an arm right now, much less stand. 

“Pete…” he said in a whisper, not sure how he was managing to speak, “It’s okay, it’s all okay.” 

“No,” Peter said, starting to sob, “no, it’s not okay...you-you have to stay with me, please Tony.”

For the first time since he put on the gauntlet, Tony actually wanted to stay alive. He didn’t have the energy or willpower for that before, but now his kid was in front of him, begging him to live. Even though it would be so easy to close his eyes and let it all be over, he couldn’t let Peter down. Not again. He forced himself to keep breathing, ignoring the pain in his lungs. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. 

“Tell Strange...portal to Dr. Cho…” he said with his last ounce of air. 

Tony kept his eyes open long enough to see the portal open up to a white lab on the other side. He didn’t know if Helen would be able to do anything to save him, but it was the best chance he had. As Peter carried him through the portal, Tony took one last look at him before he closed his eyes and drifted away. There was nothing more he could do now besides hope for the best. 

XxxxxxxxX

Tony awoke to find himself lying in a hospital bed, looking up at a bright white ceiling. It felt like only minutes had passed since he had snapped his fingers, but it must have been hours, or even days. He tried to shield his eyes from the light, but found that he couldn’t move his right arm. When he looked down, he saw that his arm was completely gone, all the way up to the shoulder.  _ Worse things have happened. _

He felt surprisingly okay. Tired and achy, but okay. Helen was even better than he thought. He turned to look towards the door just in time to see Peter walking in, carrying a cup of coffee. The kid looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept in days. Maybe he hadn’t. 

“Hey, kid,” he said, chuckling when Peter dropped his coffee in shock. 

“Oh my God, you’re awake!” Peter ran over to the bed and Tony had just enough time to sit up before he was being hugged with all the force a teenager with superpowers had to give. 

“I can’t believe it,” Peter said, his voice muffled against Tony’s shoulder. 

“Me neither.” 

After a long moment, Peter finally pulled away and sat down in the chair next to the bed. He was looking at Tony like he had hung the moon in the sky, and it made Tony’s heart soar. 

“How long has it been?” Tony asked.

“Three days. Almost four...I was so scared you weren’t going to wake up.”

“Wow. Sorry it took me so long.”

Peter smiled and shook his head, but Tony could see the tears in his eyes. “I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

Tony reached out for Peter’s hand, pausing for a moment when he realized he’d have to use his left arm. 

“I’m glad  _ you’re _ okay, kid,” he said, squeezing Peter’s hand, “It’s been five years for me, remember?”

Peter nodded, squeezing his hand back. He looked so overwhelmed, Tony decided that the rest of this talk could wait. For now, he could just relish in the fact that they were both alive and more or less whole. 

“I’m starving,” Tony said after a moment, “How about you go get us some cheeseburgers?”

  
  



	18. Muffled Scream - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Muffled Scream  
Words: 1564  
Notes: Superfamily - Peter is Steve and Tony’s teenage son but he doesn’t have any superpowers. TW for blood

“He’s going to be okay, Tony,” Steve said softly, reaching out for Tony’s hand across the table. It was 2 in the morning and they were sitting in the kitchen with a half-drunk pot of coffee between them. They both looked like garbage. 

Tony pulled his hand away. “How? How the hell is he going to be okay?” he spat out with more venom and bitterness than he intended. But once he got started, he couldn’t hold back anymore. “He’s been gone for  _ six days _ , Steve.  _ Six. _ We don’t even know that he’s alive.”

“Please don’t say that,” Steve said quietly, clutching his mug tighter.

“Why not? What reason do we have to think that he’s not dead?”

“Tony…”

“What kind of kidnapper doesn’t ask for ransom? If somebody took him, it’s because they wanted to kill him. It’s not like --”

“Tony, stop!” Steve shouted, slamming his mug down on the table and not even flinching when hot coffee spilled over his hand. 

Tony stared at him in silence for a moment. He knew he was just taking his anger and pain out on Steve and he knew it was unfair. But their kid was missing, and any thought of reasonable emotional response went out the window days ago.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said in a small voice, “I’m just so afraid.”

“I know. Me too,” Steve said, “I’m not an idiot, I know how much danger he could be in just as much as you do. I can’t close my eyes without seeing his dead body lying on the ground somewhere. But we can’t give up on him, Tony.”

“I would never give up on him. I hope he knows that. I hope he knows we’re doing everything we can to find him.”

“I’m sure he does,” Steve said, getting up, “I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

Tony nodded, “you go to bed. I’ll be there soon.”

Xxxxxxx

Two hours later, Tony awoke to find that he had fallen asleep at the kitchen table. The crick in his neck was horrendous, and  _ what was that noise? _ After a few seconds, he was awake enough to realize that the loud ringing noise was his cell phone, and he scrambled to pick it up when he saw that it was from Fury. Any call from SHIELD could be information about Peter, they had every possible agent on the case.

“Fury,” Tony said quickly, not about to waste any time.

“We have coordinates on your son. Looks like he’s being held in an old Hydra bunker. Hill just texted you the location, but I highly suggest you come to HQ first to come up with a plan and --”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Tony said, cutting him off, “I’m leaving right now. Send me some agents for back up.”

“You know this is probably a trap, Stark.”

“Don’t care.” Tony hung up the phone and ran to the bedroom. His heart was beating so hard he could hear it thumping in his chest. He had been losing hope every day since Peter went missing, but now he actually had a location. There was no way he was going to lose his chance to save his son. 

“Steve!” he yelled, bursting through the door and shaking his husband awake. 

“What is it?” Steve asked groggily, still half asleep.

“Fury just gave me coordinates on Peter,” he said frantically, “looks like it’s not too far away, we have to go  _ now.” _

The sleepiness instantly vanished from Steve’s face. He shot out of bed and grabbed his shield from behind the dresser. There was no time to put on his suit, sweatpants and a t-shirt would just have to do. 

“Let’s go get our son,” Steve said, his expression more determined than Tony had ever seen.

xxxxxx

It only took 25 minutes to get to the Hydra bunker upstate on the quinjet, but it felt like hours. Now that they knew where Peter was, every extra second it took to get there felt like they were letting him down. The plan was simple: split up and look for Peter, taking out as many Hydra agents as possible in the process. Whoever found him first would grab him and get the hell out of there while the other finished up with the agents. Put that way, it seemed easy. But they both knew that this was probably a trap, and Hydra would be ready for them. There would be no element of surprise. 

When the quinjet finally landed, Tony flew to the back entrance in the latest model of his Iron Man suit while Steve took the front entrance. They couldn’t worry about each other now, the only thing that mattered was finding Peter. Tony burst through the back door and was surprised to see that no Hydra agents were waiting for him on the other side. Maybe it wasn’t a trap after all. Maybe Hydra was just being messy. 

He crept down the hallway to find an agent standing in the corner, completely oblivious. The bastard didn’t stand a chance against a hit from one of Tony’s blasters. He kept shooting down doors as he went, but most of them had nothing but old weaponry inside. It was eerily quiet, and Tony was starting to worry that Peter might not be there after all. But he didn’t even want to think about that. He would be so crushed if they didn’t find him. 

After shooting down another few doors, Tony heard heavy footsteps on the floor above him. He quickly found the staircase and crept up as quietly as possible, wanting to be able to surprise the agent. He peered around the corner at the top of the staircase, and what he saw made his heart shatter and soar at the same time.

Peter was strapped to a chair in the middle of a large room, his face heavily bruised and bloody. There was a piece of cloth tied around his mouth as a gag and his eyes were mostly swollen shut. A Hydra agent was standing in front of him, holding a sharp knife close to Peter’s face. 

“What do you think, kid?” The agent said, “Should we send your daddies a lock of your hair or a nice little piece of your ear?”

Peter screamed against the gag, and the sound was muffled and horrible. Tony decided he had heard more than enough. He shot a blast at the agent and watched him go down with a satisfying thump.  _ Idiot. _

Tony ran to Peter’s side and knelt down in front of him. He looked so much worse up close. There was a deep gash in his forehead and blood caked into his hair. It was so awful to see his kid like this, but at least he was alive. He removed the gag as gently as possible, noticing with a pang how Peter flinched when he touched him. 

“Peter, sweetie, it’s me. It’s okay.” 

“D-dad?”

“Yes, baby, it’s me. I’ve got you.” Tony made quick work of removing the restraints and Peter practically fell into his arms. He was shaking terribly as he sobbed against Tony’s shoulder. 

_ God, he’s only 15.  _ Tony thought as he held Peter close and stroked his hair. 

“Shh, it’s okay. They can’t hurt you anymore.” Tony was crying too now, more out of relief than anything. He had been so convinced that Peter was dead, but now he was holding him in his arms. Bruised and bleeding, but alive. He was so overwhelmed that he didn’t even notice Steve coming into the room until he heard the sound of shield hitting the ground. 

“Oh my god.” 

Tony had just enough time to kiss Peter’s forehead and let go before Steve scooped him up into his arms, just like he was a baby again. 

“Let’s get you out of here, okay?” Steve said, carrying Peter towards the stairs with Tony close behind. They were lucky enough to not encounter anymore Hydra agents on their way out and Steve didn’t put Peter down until they were safely on the quinjet. He laid between his dads on the way back, his head on Tony’s lap and his legs across Steve’s. And for the first time in six days, they all felt safe. 

XxxxX

Two weeks later, Tony stood in Peter’s bedroom doorway in the middle of the night, just watching him sleep. He couldn’t stop himself from checking on him at least once a night, and he usually found himself standing there for minutes on end, watching the steady rise and fall of his son’s chest. It was the only thing that would calm him down when he woke up in the middle of the night, terrified that Peter was still missing. 

“Come back to bed, Tony,” Steve said, grabbing his hand, “He’ll still be there when we wake up.”

“I know,” Tony said, taking one last look at Peter before turning to Steve, “We’re never letting that happen again.” 

“Never,” Steve agreed. “Now come on, you should sleep.”

Tony nodded and followed him down the hallway. It would take some getting used to, but he knew that eventually things would go back to normal and he would be able to sleep the whole night without panicking and checking on Peter. But for now Peter was healing and he was managing, and that was okay. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated.


	19. Asphyxiation - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Asphyxiation   
Words: 1072  
Notes: Stony - established relationship - TW for drowning

It was an obvious fact of their relationship that Steve worried about Tony too much. As much as he knew that Tony could take care of himself, it was hard to forget that underneath all the armor he was just a normal human being. A genius, yes, but a genius whose body was just as vulnerable to bullets and knives as anyone else’s. Steve knew being a supersoldier didn’t make him invincible, but he also knew he could easily take a few bullets and end up good as new in less than a week. That contrast made him all the more protective of Tony, sometimes irrationally so. It was one of the few things they ever fought over, Steve yelling at Tony for being too reckless in a fight and Tony yelling back for treating him like a china doll. 

A less obvious fact of their relationship was that Tony worried about Steve too much. He was always afraid that Steve would do something stupid in the name of protecting him. After all, he had jumped in front of guns for him more times than Tony would like to admit. And he had seen Steve bleed enough to know that he wasn’t invincible, no matter how fast he healed. But he hardly ever talked about how much he worried. He couldn’t get made at Steve for being too protective and then turn around and do the exact same thing to him. Besides, any time Tony tried to bring it up Steve would shrug it off and change the subject. That just made Tony more worried, since it made him feel like Steve thought he really was invincible. 

Turns out bullets were the last thing Tony should have been worrying about. Steve could heal from almost anything, even if Tony hated to see him get hurt. But even supersoldiers needed to breathe. 

Steve was somewhere at the bottom of the river, and Tony couldn’t fucking find him. The clock was cruelly ticking on, every minute passing marking another 60 seconds that Steve wasn’t breathing. It felt like a sick game. Search in murky water for your boyfriend, and if you don’t find him soon, he dies. He had no idea how long Steve could last without oxygen. Surely longer than a normal person, but not forever. It had already been at least six minutes. Tony was getting more and more worried that all he would find in the river would be Steve’s dead body. 

Every rock he moved to not find Steve behind made him feel even more worthless. What good was he if he couldn’t save his own boyfriend? After everything Steve had done to protect him over the years, now he couldn’t even return the favor. But he had to push aside the guilt and focus on finding Steve. It was just so hard when he could barely see five feet in front of his face. Even with all the lights on his Iron Man suit, the water was too murky to see through. 

Eight minutes now. Maybe more. If Steve was already dead, Tony didn’t know what he would do. He couldn’t imagine having to bury the love of his life. He didn’t want to live without him, not now, not ever. But it was becoming more and more of a real possibility with every passing minute. He couldn’t give up, though. He would keep searching for hours if he had to. Someone would have to drag him out of this stupid river before he gave up on Steve. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the light from his glove flash on something blue. It stood out amongst the brown rocks and mud surrounding it. Tony took a deep breath and propelled himself towards it, holding all the hope in the world that it would be Steve, and that he would be alive. His heart was racing as he pulled away the rocks, terrified of what he might find.

Underneath the rocks and mud was the undeniable face of his boyfriend. He was a sickly purple color, but it was definitely him. Tony’s stomach flipped and he scooped Steve up into his arms. He shot up to the surface as fast as possible, knowing that a single second could mean the difference between life and death. Their heads were above water, but Steve still wasn’t breathing, and he certainly wasn’t awake. 

Tony swam to the shore and laid Steve in the mud, desperately feeling for a heartbeat. Nothing.  _ Oh god. _ This couldn’t be happening. There was no way. He had to do something, even if it seemed futile. 

He started chest compressions, trying to keep them as steady as possible despite how much he was shaking. “Come on Steve, wake up, you have to wake up.”

It didn’t seem like it was working, but Tony wasn’t about to give up. He breathed twice into Steve’s mouth, hating how cold and lifeless he felt. Still nothing. Another round of chest compressions and a little less hope. He wanted to break down and sob but he had to stay strong and keep going, no matter how hard it was. 

About halfway through the third round of compressions, a miracle happened. Steve’s eyes shot open and he started coughing up the river water he had inhaled. Tony scrambled to help him sit up, terrified that he would just re-inhale the water. 

“It’s okay, get it all out. I’ve got you,” Tony said, still in shock that Steve was actually alive. 

Once all the water was out of his lungs, Steve took a long gasping breath of air and fell back against Tony, who held him close while he struggled to regain his breath. 

“You’re okay, just try to breathe. Nice and slow.”

Tony kissed Steve’s temple and held his hand, noticing how cold he still felt. He turned his built-in suit heater on, hoping it would help. Steve relaxed slightly against the suit, his head falling onto Tony’s shoulder as his breathing became more regular. 

“T-Ton…” Steve’s voice was quiet and raspy, and it sounded like it was hurting him to try to speak.

“Shh, babe, it’s okay,” Tony said softly, “you don’t have to say anything.”

Steve nodded and burrowed himself further into the warmth of Tony’s suit. There would be plenty of time to talk about this later. Until then, all Tony wanted Steve to do was breathe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading and thanks for all the lovely comments and kudos :) I'm glad I decided to stick with this project


	20. Trembling - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Trembling  
Words: 1282  
Notes: Unestablished Stony

The wind whipped through Tony’s hair as he trudged through the deep snow. Of all the things that could go wrong on a mission, he never thought that an avalanche would be one of them. They had fought aliens, monsters, supervillains, and even nazis, but it was nothing but an act of nature that got them this time. If he wasn’t so terrified and so fucking cold, Tony would have laughed at the irony. This was one of the very few things that they weren’t prepared for. They were ready to fight anything that might turn up at the abandoned Hydra base on the top of a German mountain, but they couldn’t fight the snow, no matter how hard they tried. 

He just had to stay focused, though that was getting harder as he got colder. Most of his suit had fallen off in his long tumble down the mountain, so his body was mostly exposed. His jeans were soaked through from the snow and his t-shirt wasn’t doing much to keep him warm. He knew he wouldn’t last long like this. His feet and hands were already numb and it was just a matter of time before he wouldn’t be able to move his legs anymore.

_ Cap will find me. It’ll be fine.  _ Maybe he was just telling himself that to make him feel better, but deep down he truly believed it. They had been on countless missions together and Steve had never let him down before. It was one of the reasons Tony had fallen in love with him, though he didn’t think he’d ever have the courage to admit it. There was really no reason to admit it, anyway. As far as he knew, Steve barely tolerated him, and if it wasn’t for the Avengers there would be no reason for them to spend time together. It would just make things incredibly awkward for the whole team, and Tony didn’t want to be responsible for that.  _ Dumbass. About to freeze to death and you’re still pining after your teammate.  _

He was just  _ so cold. _ His teeth were chattering so hard he could feel the vibrations in his skull, and his fingers were turning a nasty shade of blue. It was probably for the best that he couldn’t feel them anymore. He took another step forward and his legs finally gave out. He collapsed into the snow and tried desperately to get back up, but there was no way. Even if his body wasn’t frozen solid, the snow was so deep and heavy it would have been a challenge to get out no matter what. There was nothing he could do now except wait for Cap to find him. He probably looked so pathetic, laying here in the snow hoping to be saved. 

He hoped Steve was okay. They had split up at the top of the mountain, Steve going in the front entrance of the base while Tony made his way to the back. The avalanche hit before Tony made it inside, but Steve was already behind the heavy steel door. He was safe from the snow, but anyone and anything could have been behind that door. Tony had no way of knowing if he was okay since his comms device had fallen out of his ear on the way down the mountain. He made a mental note to make the comms more secure if he ever made it out of here. 

Tony let his head fall back into the snow, his neck finally giving out. His teeth had stopped chattering, which was probably a bad sign. He knew he was running out of time. Dying in an avalanche in Germany was never part of the plan. He always thought he would go out in a more impressive fashion, ideally in a battle with a more fearsome enemy than freaking  _ snow. _ Whatever. He was too cold to care anymore. 

Just as he started to let his eyes fall closed, he heard a voice calling his name. It sounded far away, but maybe that was just because it was being muffled by the snow. With all the strength he had left, he lifted an arm into the air, hoping it would be high enough to be seen over the snow. His frozen joints screamed in protest at the movement, but it was his only hope. 

“TONY!” Louder now. Closer. And unless he was going crazy, he thought he could hear footsteps, too. He tried to call back but he couldn’t make his voice work. But the footsteps sounded like they were getting closer, and that was all the hope Tony needed. 

“Oh God.” Tony forced his eyes open, and there was Steve. He looked more worried than Tony had ever seen him. “You’re gonna be okay, Tony.”

All of a sudden, Tony was being lifted into Steve’s arms. He had fantasized about this more times than he’d like to admit, but it never involved his body being so cold that he couldn’t even feel anything. His head fell against Steve’s chest, but he didn’t have the energy to be embarrassed.  _ I knew he’d find me _ , he thought before the world faded to black.

XxxxxxxX

When Tony woke up, the first thing he noticed was that his entire body was trembling uncontrollably. The second thing he noticed was that he was sitting in Steve’s  _ lap _ , wrapped tightly in his arms. He blinked twice, trying to figure out whether or not he was hallucinating. Could a hallucination be this  _ warm? _ Figuring he might as well make the most of this, hallucination or not, he snuggled closer to Steve, eagerly soaking up more of his body heat. 

“Hey,” Steve said, his voice surprisingly gentle, “I thought you might never wake up. You can move if you want, I just thought --”

“No, it’s fine,” Tony said, cutting him off. He might never get to be this close to Steve again, and he wasn’t wasting his chance, no matter how awkward it might be. “You’re warm.”

“And you’re freezing,” Steve replied, adjusting his arms, “I’m glad I found you when I did.”

“I must have looked so pathetic,” Tony said, managing a tiny laugh.

“Pathetic? No way. If anything I was impressed by how long you lasted in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans. But your face was so blue...I thought you might not make it back to the quinjet.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easy, Rogers.”

Steve was quiet for a long moment. “Tony…” he started, “I know you like to joke about these things, but I was really terrified that I might lose you.”

Tony stared at him. He never thought Steve cared about him as anything more than a teammate, but the way he was talking...maybe Tony wasn’t crazy for falling in love with him after all. He had a sudden urge to tell him how he felt. If there was ever a perfect time for it, it was now. But he chickened out at the last second.

“I - I’m sorry I scared you,” was all he managed.

“Don’t be sorry.  _ I’m  _ sorry it took me so long to find you. You must have thought I was never coming.”

“No,” Tony said honestly, “I always knew you would find me. You’ve never let me down before.” 

Steve smiled and held him a little closer. Even though he was still freezing cold, Tony wanted to pause this moment and live in it forever.  _ Maybe it can be like this one day _ , he thought to himself. It was impossible, and he knew it. But the thought warmed him up a little from the inside out.  _ Can’t blame myself for dreaming. _


	21. Laced Drink - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Laced Drink  
Words: 1098  
Notes: Irondad, TW for blood and needles

Peter had never been much of a coffee drinker, but after an infamous all-nighter he spent studying for a history exam, he found himself addicted to the stuff. It had quickly become an integral part of his morning routine, stopping at Starbucks on the way to school. Leaving home ten minutes earlier every day was worth it if he got to walk into first period with a cup of his new favorite drink. Maybe not the healthiest habit for a teenager, but there was no turning back now. Most of the baristas already knew his name and his usual order (dark roast, tiny bit of room for cream) so it was safe to say he was a full-on coffee junkie.

A bright Thursday morning in October started like any other. Peter was sipping on his piping hot coffee (wonderful as always) while he walked to school and let his mind wander. He hoped the school day could go as fast as possible. Mr. Stark was picking him up at the end of the day to go work on a new model of his Spider suit in the lab. He was so excited to show him his improvements to the web fluid. And he was sure Mr. Stark had a million cool ideas for the suit, like he always did. 

If he wasn’t so distracted, he might have noticed the man walking so close behind him. He might have noticed how the coffee seemed to be making him sleepier instead of more awake. But he didn’t notice anything until a strong hand clasped over his nose and mouth. He tried to pull the hand away but found that he wasn’t strong enough.  _ That’s weird. _ He was usually strong enough to lift  _ trucks _ off the ground, but now he couldn’t pull some asshole’s hand away? Before he had enough time to even be afraid, the smell of something sweet overwhelmed his senses and the world faded to black.

XxxxxX

Peter woke up to find himself tied to a chair in the middle of a large, empty room. His head was pounding and his limbs felt too heavy to lift. He had never felt so  _ weak _ . What the hell had happened to his super strength? He should have been able to easily break through the ropes holding him down, but he could barely even lift his neck. He felt completely powerless. Anything could happen and he wouldn’t be able to fight back. The sound of footsteps started to echo around the room and Peter felt hot fear start to bubble up in his stomach. He couldn’t even look up to see who was approaching him.

“Good. You’re awake,” a deep voice said from directly in front of him. All Peter could see was the man’s shoes, black and shiny.  _ Seems like a pretentious douchebag. _

“I think I might have underestimated the strength of the poison I gave you. You barely made it through a quarter of that cup of coffee.”

Peter felt a wave of nausea roll over him.  _ This asshole laced my coffee. _ The best part of his morning, completely ruined by a kidnapper who was speaking way too casually given the situation.

“What do you want?” Peter asked, noticing how slurred and sluggish his voice was.

“It’s quite simple, really. I want your powers.”

Peter laughed. “Yeah? Good luck with that. Those spiders don’t exist anymore. I couldn’t help you with that even if I wanted to.”

“Ah. You misunderstand.” The man stepped closer and held a needle in front of Peter’s face. “Who needs the spider when I can just use your DNA directly?”

“That won’t work,” Peter said, though he had no idea whether or not that was true.

“Oh, it’ll work. I’ve been studying you for months. Here, you won’t feel a thing.” The man inserted the needle into Peter’s shoulder, and there was nothing he could do to stop him. He drew three vials of blood, setting each one in a heavy duty silver briefcase. Peter just wanted it to be over. He always hated needles.

“Are you done?” He asked, his voice full of disdain. 

“Not quite, I’m afraid. I hate to do this, I don’t make a habit of hurting children. But I’m particularly interested in how your healing factor works. This may leave a mark.” With that, the man punched him square in the face. It barely hurt now, but if the noise the punch made was any indication, Peter’s face wasn’t going to feel good once the drugs wore off. He didn’t have time to react before the man was inserting a needle into his cheek, drawing blood from where he had hit him.

“What the - “ Peter started, but was cut off by another punch, this time straight to his jaw. He tasted blood in his mouth and wanted to puke. 

“Just one more, I think,” the man said, gearing up to hit Peter directly in the eye. But he was interrupted by a loud, angry voice echoing through the room. 

“Punch my kid again and I swear to God I’ll blow you to bits.”

_Mr. Stark._ _Oh thank god. _

The man dropped his fist and let out a high pitched noise. This clearly wasn’t part of his plan. After all, who would plan to fight  _ Iron Man _ just to get his hands on some of Peter Parker’s blood? Peter wished he could have lifted his head to see the fight. It must have been totally pathetic, since it only lasted about ten seconds before the man fell to the ground, knocked out cold. 

“What an idiot,” Mr. Stark said, kneeling in front of Peter and untying the ropes that were holding him down. Unfortunately the ropes were also the only thing holding him upright, since his muscles were basically useless. He slumped out of the chair the second the ropes were gone, but Mr. Stark caught him before he hit the ground.

“I’ve got you, kid.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” Peter mumbled.

“You okay? Looked like he hit you pretty hard.”

“Can’t feel it.”

Mr. Stark frowned and picked Peter up baby-style, “I’m sure you’ll feel it tomorrow. But you’ll be okay, I promise.”

Peter let his head fall against Mr. Stark’s shoulder and closed his eyes. The adrenaline was wearing off and he just wanted to sleep. 

“Mr. Stark?” he said, already half asleep.

“Yeah?”

“Did you just call me your kid?” 

There was a long pause. 

“Yeah. I guess I did. Is that okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Peter mumbled, a small smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep. 


	22. Hallucination - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hallucination  
Words: 1379  
Notes: Stony (established relationship) TW for blood, head injuries, hallucinations

Tony’s head was spinning. His vision was slightly blurred around the edges and he had absolutely no idea where he was. And why was he on the ground? He pushed himself up, his muscles tight and sore. When he looked down, he noticed a small splattering of blood on the bright white floor. He lifted a hand and realized it was coming from his temple. It was probably for the best that there were no mirrors anywhere, since he was sure the wound wasn’t pretty. The weird thing was that it didn’t really hurt. Since when did splitting your head open not hurt? Whatever. He could worry about that later, right now he just had to figure out where the hell he was.

Everything around him was such a bright white that it was hurting his eyes to look. It seemed to be one long hallway, stretching out as far as he could see in either direction. It was eerily quiet. Tony couldn’t even hear his own footsteps as he walked along, all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.  _ I guess that means I’m not dead. _

He continued walking along the endless hallway, trying to remember how he had got here. The last thing he remembered clearly was kissing Steve goodbye in the morning, after that it was a hazy memory of walking down the street - it was raining - and then nothing. He wasn’t  _ afraid, _ exactly. There wasn’t any imminent threat. As far as he could tell it was just an empty hallway. It was just kind of...freaky. Well, more than  _ kind of _ freaky. Waking up in an endless white hallway wasn’t something he would classify as normal by any means. 

After five minutes of walking, Tony came across a black door that seemingly popped up out of nowhere. Hoping it would lead him outside, or at least out of this stupid hallway, he reached for the handle and pulled the door open. 

It was darker on the other side, a welcome change from the overwhelming brightness of the hallway. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized with a sinking feeling that this wasn’t an exit. It was just a room, with a few tables and chairs and not much else. Definitely no windows, to his disappointment. He was about to turn around and continue his endless trek down the hallway when he heard a noise coming from the corner of the room. It sounded like somebody breathing, but it was shaky and uneven.

“Hello?” he said cautiously, taking a step forward.

No response. As he walked closer to the source of the noise he could see a crumpled form of a man lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Figuring whoever it was would be too injured to hurt him, he knelt down and gently rolled the man onto his back. 

“ _ Oh God.” _ It was Steve. Steve lying in a pool of his own blood, struggling to breathe. It was Tony’s worst nightmare come to life right in front of his eyes. He wanted to scream, but the sound died in his throat. 

“Steve, look at me,” Tony said, cupping the side of his face, “You have to be okay, tell me you’re okay.”

Steve’s eyes briefly locked with Tony’s, but he looked like he was barely hanging on. 

“T-Tony…” he started, blood dotting his lips. But before he could say another word, his head rolled to the side and his body went limp.

“No...please.” Hot tears were welling up in Tony’s eyes. “Wake up, Steve,” he said desperately, “you have to wake up!” 

He shook Steve’s shoulders but there was no response. He was gone. Tony felt a horrible wrenching feeling in his gut and he let out an awful scream. It was loud and mangled and hurt his throat, but he didn’t care. He thought he could scream forever, staring at his boyfriend’s lifeless face. He pulled Steve’s body into his lap and held him against his chest as he shook violently with sobs and screams. 

Out of nowhere, Tony felt something hard slam against the back of his head. He took one last look at Steve and the world faded to black. 

XxxxxxX

The first thing Tony saw when he woke up was a bright white ceiling. For a moment he thought he was back out in the hallway, but he quickly realized that he was lying in a bed, not on the floor. And there was a steady beeping noise filling the room.  _ Ah. Hospital. How did I get here? _

He racked his brain, trying to remember. He was walking down the endless hallway, then he saw a door and went inside and then... _ Steve. _ The horrible image of Steve laying in a pool of his own blood flashed in his mind. For a few blissful seconds, he had forgotten Steve was dead. The memory his him like a ton of bricks, and it felt like it was happening all over again. 

He couldn’t bear just lying here in this stupid hospital bed. He had to find someone, had to  _ do something. _ He ripped the IV out of his arm and struggled to his feet, his body achy and weak. His legs were shaking, but he forced himself to keep moving. He barely made it five steps outside the door before he collapsed to the ground, too weak to keep going. He had never felt so useless. 

Overwhelmed by his emotions, Tony barely registered the sound of someone running towards him. It didn’t matter, anyway. Nothing mattered if Steve was dead. 

“Tony!” It sounded just like... _ Steve! _ He was looking right at him, clear as day and perfectly alive, but it couldn’t be. Tony had just watched him die. He had held his dead body in his arms, felt his blood on his hands…

“Tony, what the hell are you doing out of bed? And what’s that look for? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Tony couldn’t believe it. “Steve?” he said breathlessly. He wanted to get up and grab him, make sure that he was real, but he was frozen in place with shock. 

Steve knelt down in front of him. “You okay, babe?” His tone was much gentler now. He reached out a hand and grabbed Tony’s shoulder. His hand felt solid and real and  _ alive.  _ Not a ghost. 

Tony threw his arms around Steve’s neck and pulled him close. Tears were starting to stream down his face but he didn’t care. Steve was  _ alive. _

“Hey...what’s wrong?” Steve asked, pulling back just enough to see Tony’s face. 

“I-I saw you  _ die,”  _ Tony said, choking on the words.

Steve sighed and pulled Tony closer. “So that’s what that scream was.”

“What?”

“You were hallucinating, Tony. None of that was real. I promise.”

Tony took that in for a minute. It had all felt so  _ real _ , but none of it really made any sense. An endless hallway could only exist as a hallucination, right? 

“I felt your blood on my hands,” Tony said, his voice shaking, “I saw the life go out of your eyes. It felt so real.”

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, aren’t I?” At this point, Tony was basically clutching onto Steve for dear life. It was hard to deny that he was there, that he was solid and real.

“I thought I lost you,” Tony said in a small voice.

“I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” Steve’s voice was so calm, so reassuring. It helped Tony believe his words, that he was really there, really alive. 

“Let’s get you back to bed, okay? You look horrible.” Tony nodded. The ground wasn’t the most comfortable place for someone with multiple head injuries. Steve picked him up with ease and carried him back to the bed. He kissed his forehead and laid him down gently.

“Don’t leave,” Tony said, pleading.

“Of course not,” Steve said, grabbing Tony’s hand and sitting down in the chair next to him. “I’ll be right here, as long as you need.”

Tony grasped tightly onto Steve’s hand, afraid that he would disappear if he let go. 

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

There was a short pause while Steve kissed Tony’s hand.

“I love you too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading :) kudos and comments are always appreciated


	23. Bleeding Out - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Bleeding Out  
Words: 1525  
Notes: Superfamily, TW for blood. Sorry this is a bit later than usual!

It had been a rough week. Steve was gone on a top-secret mission for SHIELD - something about stolen vibranium in Germany - so he had to be entirely off the grid, which meant that Tony couldn’t even  _ talk _ to his husband. He couldn’t remember the last time they had gone more than a day without at least speaking to each other. Now, after nine days, Tony was sick of it. The worst part was that he had no way of knowing if Steve was okay. It didn’t seem like a terribly dangerous mission, but Tony would worry no matter what. 

On top of worrying about Steve, Tony had been arguing with their son all week. Their relationship had been strained ever since he found out that Peter had been swinging through the city as Spider-Man. It made Tony sick to think about his son putting himself in danger like that nearly every night. He was only 15 years old, and he was regularly getting into fights with armed criminals and the occasional super villain. Steve and Tony both knew they couldn’t stop him. He was a teenage boy, after all. He would do what he wanted with or without his parents’ permission, and they would rather know about it and try to set some boundaries than have him go behind their backs. 

Agreeing on those boundaries was the hard part. Peter never liked to be told that something was too dangerous, he wanted to be able to help people and stop bad guys whenever he could. As much as Tony loved how brave and selfless his kid was, he couldn’t just let him be so reckless. So he tried to make rules and curfews even though it always led to a fight. He hated fighting with Peter, but he hated the idea of Peter getting hurt - or worse - even more. This week they had been fighting over curfew. Peter wanted to stay out until midnight, Tony was holding firm at 10:30. A tale as old as time. 

Tony looked at the clock. 10:45.  _ Where the hell is he? _ He was probably just rebelling, teenagers stayed out past curfew all the time. But Tony couldn’t help but worry that he might be in danger. He was already on edge with Steve being gone, and it was all too easy for his brain to jump to the worst possible scenarios. 

_ He’s a smart kid,  _ Tony reminded himself.  _ He’ll be home soon, safe and sound. _

But the clock kept ticking, and still no word from Peter. Tony tried calling but of course there was no answer. It was after 11 now, and Tony couldn’t take it anymore. He had to do something, but what the hell was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just call the police and tell them to go look for his son who just so happened to also be Spider-Man. He figured he’d try calling one more time, but right as he picked up his phone it started ringing. Peter’s face popped up on the screen, and Tony’s heart did a flip. 

“Peter,” Tony said, his voice hard, “where are you?”

For a few seconds, all Tony could hear was the sound of Peter breathing. It was labored and uneven. 

“Pete? Are you okay?”

Another few seconds of silence, and then Peter finally answered. 

“Hi dad...I really screwed up.” Tony could tell from his voice that he was in pain.

“Are you hurt?” Tony asked, already knowing the answer.

Another moment of silence. 

“I’m really sorry, dad, I just...oh god there’s so much blood.” Peter sounded absolutely terrified. His words hit Tony like a knife to the heart. He gripped his phone tighter in his hand, trying to keep his composure.

“Tell me where you are.”

“Just two blocks from home. In that alley with the green dumpster. I called an ambulance but it’s still not here.”

Tony was out the door before Peter finished talking. “I’m coming, okay? You’re gonna be just fine, I promise.” He had to be fine. Tony didn’t know what he would do if he wasn’t. He ran down the street as fast as he could, desperately trying to get to Peter in time.

“I...I’m so scared, dad,” Peter said, his voice small and shaky. Tony’s heart shattered. Peter hating admitting when he was hurt, so it must be really bad if he was saying this.

“Don’t be scared. I’m almost there. Just keep your eyes open for me, okay?” Tony tried to sound reassuring even though he was panicking on the inside. 

Tony dropped his phone when he rounded the corner to the alley and ran to Peter. He was slumped against the wall, his hand loosely covering a wound in his stomach. A pool of blood was forming beneath him, and he looked so terribly pale.

Tony fell to his knees next to Peter and wasted no time pressing his jacket against the wound, trying to put as much pressure on it as possible. Peter groaned underneath the weight, but Tony couldn’t let up. There was nothing else he could do before the ambulance got there besides try to stop the bleeding.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Tony said, the pained look on Peter’s face sending daggers straight to his heart. “Just stay with me, okay?” He could hear the ambulance sirens in the distance. Peter just had to hang on a little longer. 

“You must be so mad at me,” Peter started, but Tony cut him off. 

“No, Pete. Don’t you worry about that. Just focus on staying awake. The ambulance is almost here.”

Peter nodded, his watery eyes locked on Tony’s. “It hurts…” he said, his voice barely there.

“I know, baby,” Tony said, managing a small smile, “but you’re doing so good, you know? You’re so brave.” 

Tony was barely keeping it together. He wanted to cry and scream and tear whoever did this to his kid apart. But he had to stay strong for Peter, no matter what.

Before he had a chance to react, the paramedics were pulling him off of Peter. It nearly killed him to leave his kid’s side, but he knew he had to let the professionals take over if Peter was going to have any chance of survival. He was ushered into the back of the ambulance, and there was nothing he could do but watch as the paramedics worked on saving Peter’s life.

XxxxxxxxxX

Five hours had passed at the hospital, and Peter still wasn’t awake. The doctors said he was stable, but it was hard to believe that he was okay while he was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Tony sat by his bedside, holding his hand and watching him breathe. He looked so small and so young lying there in the hospital bed, like he was a little boy again. It was a harsh reminder of how fragile life could be. 

Tony was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the door open behind him, nor the footsteps crossing the room. He was suddenly pulled back to reality by a strong hand on his shoulder. 

“Tony.” 

He turned around to find Steve standing behind him, his expression dark as he stared at their son. He was the only person Tony wanted to see but the last one he expected.    
“Oh my god, Steve, how did you -”

“Fury was able to get the message to me,” he said, cutting Tony off, “I came as fast as I could.”

Tony stood up and pulled him into a tight hug. He had felt so alone this whole time, so Steve finally being there was like a godsend. He had been holding it back for so long, but now that he had Steve’s arms around him he finally let himself cry. 

“I thought we were going to lose him,” Tony said, his voice muffled against Steve’s shoulder. If you would have seen all that blood…”

“I know,” Steve said, stroking lines up and down Tony’s back, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“They had to resuscitate him three times. I heard his heartbeat flatline  _ three times.” _

“Shh, it’s okay, Tony. The doctors told me when I came in, he’s gonna be just fine.”

Steve pulled back to look Tony in the eyes. “Look at him,” he said, pointing at Peter, “You know how strong he is. He’s our son, after all.”

Tony nodded. It was amazing how much better he felt now that Steve was here. His husband had a way of reassuring him that never seemed to fail. 

“You’re right. He’s our son, and he’s not going anywhere. He’s a fighter.” 

“Yes he is,” Steve said, pulling up another chair so they could both sit next to Peter’s bed. 

It would still be hours before Peter woke up, but at least they had each other now. Tony rested his head on Steve’s shoulder and they talked about happy memories of their son while they watched him sleep. The world could try as hard as it wanted, but it wasn’t going to take their son away from them. Not now, not ever. 


	24. Secret Injury - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Secret Injury  
Words: 965  
Notes: Irondad, slight AU where all the avengers are still together. TW for head injuries

Peter was doing his best to pay attention at the Avengers’ debrief meeting, but the pounding in his head was getting harder and harder to ignore. He had taken a nasty fall two days before while they were fighting a disgusting blue alien that towered over the city. It was a stupid accident, really. He was too dumb to check whether or not his webs would stick to the alien’s skin before he tried swinging off of a building. His head smacked hard against the pavement when he fell, but the adrenaline and excitement of battle kept him going for the rest of the fight. Luckily, none of the Avengers had seen him fall and so far he had been able to hide it from them. He was sure they would kick him out if they knew he had made such a stupid mistake. 

Initially, the pain in his head had been fading with time, and Peter thought he could easily get away with not telling anyone about it. But then it took a turn and started getting worse every second, until it felt like someone was dropping an anvil on his head over and over again. He just hoped it would get better soon so he wouldn’t have to admit to what had happened. The pain was easier to deal with than the prospect of getting kicked out of the Avengers. 

As he tried to make sense of the diagram Captain America was showing the team, Peter found that his vision wasn’t working properly. Everything was blurry and dark around the edges. He blinked hard and shook his head, but nothing changed, except for the fact that his head just hurt even more. And was that ringing sound really there or was he just hearing things? 

“You okay, Pete?” Someone asked. Peter was so out of it that he could barely register the words, let alone figure out who was speaking. 

“Y-yeah, I’m good,” he lied. The very act of speaking sent the pain in his head to a fever pitch and the blackness at the edge of his vision started to seep closer to the center. He felt himself falling out of his chair, but found he couldn’t stop himself. The last thing he heard before he slipped out of consciousness was someone shouting his name. 

XxxxxxxxxxX

Peter woke up to the sound of hushed voices in a dark room. He felt too tired to open his eyes, but he listened for a moment.

“I just don’t get it,” he heard Mr. Stark say, “He must have been in so much pain.” 

“I know,” Captain America agreed, “Those scans looked pretty nasty. I guess he just didn’t want us to know.”

Mr. Stark sighed. “I know he can be intimidated by the team sometimes, but I thought I had a better connection with him than this. I hate to think he’s hiding things from me.”

Peter felt a pang of guilt at those words, but he was already drifting back off to sleep. He didn’t really want to hear more of that conversation anyway. 

XxxxxxxxxxxX

The second time he woke up, Peter felt okay enough to open his eyes. His head wasn’t pounding anymore, it was more of a faint ache now. Manageable enough. The ringing in his ears was gone too, all he could hear was the steady beeping of a heart monitor and the soft sound of someone snoring. He looked to his left and saw Mr. Stark, asleep in the chair next to his bed. How long had it been since he had last woken up?

He didn’t want to wake Mr. Stark up, but he couldn’t stop a sneeze from sneaking up on him. Mr. Stark jumped awake at the noise, looking startled and slightly disoriented. Peter figured it wasn’t every day that he fell asleep in a hospital chair. 

“Sorry,” Peter said quietly, “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, no, it’s okay, kid,” Mr. Stark said once he got his bearings. “I never meant to fall asleep, anyway.”

“Have you been here this whole time?” Peter asked, slightly embarrassed. 

“Of course. Couldn’t just leave you alone, could I?” His tone was surprisingly gentle. 

Peter took a second before responding. “I thought you’d be mad at me.”

Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“I heard you with Captain America earlier…”

“Ah. Listen, I wasn’t angry with you. Not at all. I’m just worried. You have a pretty nasty concussion, kid. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Peter sighed. He really didn’t want to address this, but he didn’t feel like lying anymore. 

“When I fell, it was such a stupid mistake. Entirely my fault. I didn’t want the team to find out and kick me off the Avengers.”

Mr. Stark frowned. “You really think we would kick you off the team for one stupid mistake?”

Peter nodded. “Everyone else is so amazing in our battles.”

“Kid, let me tell you something. Every single one of us has made stupid mistakes. Sometimes with much worse consequences than a concussion. I made an AI that tried to blow up the world, for god’s sake. And between you and me, I once saw Sam fly straight into a glass window. Though that one was slightly more hilarious than terrible.”

Peter was quiet for a moment, contemplating what Mr. Stark had said. He never thought of the Avengers as the type of people to make mistakes, but maybe he was wrong.

“So I’m not kicked out?”

“Of course not. But you have to promise me that you’ll never hide something like this from me again, okay? Otherwise I’ll be worried sick about you 24/7.”

Peter smiled. He didn’t realize Mr. Stark cared about him this much. 

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading :)


	25. Humiliation - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: humiliation  
Words: 855  
Notes: Superfamily AU - Peter is 14 and doesn’t have his powers yet

Peter walked home from school with his head hung low. He was sporting a nasty black eye and a swollen lower lip, but the pain was nothing compared to the embarrassment. The whole school had watched Flash beat the crap out of him after last period. Well, maybe not the  _ whole _ school, but when everyone had cell phones and snapchat, it might as well have been everyone cheering and jaunting in that circle. He couldn’t help but think about how much worse it could have been if Ned hadn’t jumped in and tackled Flash off of him. Still, his best friend having to save his ass from the bully only made the embarrassment work. He should have been able to fend for himself, but when fists were coming at him he just shut down and froze. 

Even worse than the idea of the whole school seeing him get beat up was the prospect of telling his parents about it. How do you tell your superhero dads that you got beat up by a bully when they spent most of their days fighting aliens and monsters and super-villains? It would have been impossible for anyone to live up to his dad’s names, but Peter felt like he was doing a particularly terrible job. Of course he knew that his parents loved him, but deep down he couldn’t help but feel like a disappointment. He was nothing more than a weak, nerdy loser. That couldn’t have been what they expected of him. 

When he walked in the apartment, his dads were sitting on the couch together watching TV. He tried to sneak behind them and lock himself in his room, but his parents weren’t really the types to let anything get past them. 

“Peter!” Steve said in a tone that made Peter’s stomach drop. He had obviously noticed the black eye before Peter could even say hello. 

“Hi,” Peter mumbled, turning his face away even though he knew it was too late to hide it. 

Steve jumped up off the couch and ran over to Peter to examine his face more closely. Tony was just sitting there, staring at the bruises with a look on his face that made Peter want to throw up.

“Oh honey, what happened?” Steve asked, gently lifting Peter’s chin to get a better look. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Peter grumbled. 

“Come on, you can tell us. We just want to help, you know that, right?” Steve said. Tony just continued to stare with that intense look in his eyes.

Peter sighed. He knew he was fighting a losing battle here and he wouldn’t be able to keep this from them forever. 

“I told this kid he couldn’t copy off my quiz and he, uh, he beat me up. In front of everyone.” 

There was a moment of silence. Peter saw Tony clench his hands into fists. He had never felt like such an embarrassment to his family. He was sure they were going to be disappointed. 

“I’m proud of you, Peter.” Steve said. It took Peter a second to comprehend what he was saying. 

“P-proud? But why? I got my ass kicked. I didn’t even fight back.” 

“You stood your ground. You didn’t let him copy off your quiz. That takes more bravery than fighting back.” 

Peter looked up at him, his eyes starting to water. He really didn’t want to cry right now, but his dad actually being proud of him when he was so sure he would be disappointed was completely overwhelming. 

“You think so too, right Tony?” Steve asked.

Tony stood up and walked over to them, his hands still clenched in fists. 

“Who the hell did this to you?” He sounded angrier than Peter could ever remember, but it clearly wasn’t directed at him. 

“His name is Flash.”

“That little shit isn’t going to know what him. I swear to god, I am going to --”

“Tony.” Steve said, cutting him off. “Stop.”

“No, Steve. Nobody touches our kid and gets away with it.”

Tony’s words gave Peter a weird surge of confidence. Maybe the benefits of having superheroes for parents really did outweigh the occasional embarrassment. Though seeing his dad so angry was a tiny bit frightening. 

“Tony, we’re not going to go beat up a kid. We’re going to talk to his parents like normal people.”

Tony contemplated this for a moment. “Fine,” he said, finally unclenching his fists, “But if it doesn’t go well, I’m beating up his parents.”

“Not if I beat them up first,” Steve said. Peter looked back and forth at each of them and broke out into a fit of laughter. The idea of his parents knocking on Flash’s door in full uniform was just too funny. 

“I’m glad you’re okay, Pete,” Tony said, gently wiping the tears from his face. “You’re a brave kid, you know?”

Peter nodded. He had never really felt  _ brave _ before, but he did now. It  _ was _ pretty ballsy to tell a bully straight to his face that he couldn’t copy off his quiz. 

“Yeah,” he said with a smile, “I guess I am.”


	26. Abandoned - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: abandoned  
Words: 1566  
Notes: Stony, TW for mentions of torture.

The day he was kidnapped, Tony thought of it as nothing more than a nuisance. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. The team usually found him within a day, and most kidnappers didn’t actually have the balls to do any real torture. They were typically just a bunch of wannabe super villains who wanted Tony to build them some ridiculous weapon that was almost never practical, just flashy. He would pretend to build what they wanted until he could fight his way out or the team could find him. Same old story, again and again. 

At first, this time didn’t seem any different than all the other times. A group of burly looking men with thick Russian accents had managed to snatch him off the street during one of his rare walks when he wasn’t wearing his nano suit. They threw him into the crudest lab he had ever seen (Afghanistan was nicer than this, for god’s sake) and told him to build a wide-range sonic blaster. One of the bigger guys gave him a nasty black eye when Tony had refused, so he figured these guys might be the type with enough balls for actual torture. He started “working” on the blaster under the watchful eyes of at least three guards at all times. It seemed like they were too dumb to tell the difference. 

Around the third day, Tony started to get nervous. The team had never taken this long to find him. And with so many guards around, it was nearly impossible to try to make something that would allow him to break out. So he just kept working on blaster, making sure that it would never actually function. Surely the team would find him before the kidnappers found out that their weapon was a fraud, right? 

The days came and went, and after a full week had passed the kidnappers started to get impatient. They wanted their new toy, and it was getting harder to keep pretending like he needed more time. On the morning of the eighth day, Tony got a swift kick to the jaw when he told them it still wasn’t ready. He couldn’t keep this up, but he also couldn’t give these assholes a functioning weapon. If the team didn’t come soon, he would have to give them the fraudulent version and hope they didn’t kill him when they found out. 

On the twelfth day, Tony finally gave in and handed over the useless blaster. He couldn’t believe the team hadn’t found him yet. How hard could it be to track down a gang of stereotypical Russian criminals when they snatched him off the street in broad daylight? The thought that maybe they weren’t looking for him at all briefly crossed his mind, but he pushed the thought away. His team wouldn’t abandon him like that. 

Three days passed before the kidnappers realized that their device was useless. They came stomping into the lab, pissed off and seemingly ready to kill. Tony closed his eyes and waited for a bullet to collide with his brain, but it never did. Instead, he was picked up and manhandled into a tiny stone cell with nothing but a bucket inside. At first, he was just happy that they didn’t kill him. But the hours turned into days turned into weeks, and he was starting to wish they would have just shot him and put an end to it. 

As the time passed by like molasses in his tiny cell, Tony’s mind started to wander back to the possibility that the team wasn’t even looking for him more and more often. What had started as a tiny seed of doubt in his mind quickly grew into an overbearing belief that he had truly been abandoned. At first, thinking of Steve helped to quell that doubt. Even if the rest of the team was sick of having to save his ass, Steve wouldn’t give up on Tony like that. Especially given the fact that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other just days before Tony was taken. But as time went on, Tony started to doubt Steve as well. Maybe he was playing up what had happened between them. Maybe it was just a hook-up to Steve, not the start of a relationship like Tony thought. Maybe he was just completely delusional and none of this had ever happened. That particular thought stung more than anything else. At least the physical torture didn’t bother him as much when he was so hung up on Steve. 

The weeks blurred into months and Tony lost any shreds of hope he had left. He convinced himself that the team wasn’t looking for him and that anything that happened between him and Steve was just a delusion. He felt like an idiot for ever thinking they so much as kissed. Why the hell would Steve like him, anyway? It all being a delusion made way more sense than it ever being real. 

One day, long after Tony had lost track of how long he had been trapped in his cell, he heard the sound of an explosion coming from the other side of the building. He was mostly unfazed. The idiot kidnappers always seemed to be blowing stuff up. They were still trying to get Tony’s sonic blaster to work, which was never going to happen. This explosion did sound a little different than usual. It didn’t sound like it was coming from any of their equipment. But it didn’t really matter. Tony had more important things to worry about, anyway. He had talked back to one of his captors the day before and received a nasty beating for it. He couldn’t seem to get a wound in his side to stop slowly oozing blood. 

As he continued tending to his wound, Tony started to hear more commotion coming from the lower levels of the building. It sounded like fighting, but why would his captors be fighting with each other?  _ Maybe they’ve finally realized that they’re all idiots and they’re just taking it out on each other. _

Tony laughed to himself at the thought, but froze when he heard his name being shouted from across the building. The kidnappers never called him by his name. In fact, he hadn’t even heard the word “Tony” said out loud in months. 

“TONY!” 

Again, louder this time. Less distorted. And the voice sounded familiar. 

“TONY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?”

The sounds of fighting had faded away. It was mostly quiet now except for the voice. Why did it sound so familiar? Tony didn’t know if he should respond. What if it was just another psycho trying to take him. 

“TONY,  _ PLEASE!”  _

The voice sounded desperate. Pained, even. It tapped directly to Tony’s heart, though he didn’t know why. Without thinking, he yelled back.

“I’M UP HERE! FIFTH FLOOR!”

Tony clasped a hand over his mouth right after he yelled. He really didn’t mean to do that. It could be anyone looking for him. He scooted back to the corner of his cell and sat with his knees up to his chest as he listened to the footsteps coming up the stairs. He was absolutely terrified. The footsteps got closer, and Tony pressed his face against his knees, too afraid to look at what was coming. 

“Oh my god,  _ Tony.” _

The voice was surprisingly gentle, but filled with emotion. Tony slowly lifted his head to see who was there, and his eyes went wide when he saw him.  _ Steve. _ It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. He tried to speak but his breath caught in his throat. 

“It’s okay, I’m getting you out,” Steve said, tearing apart the lock to the cell with his bare hands. Tony had forgotten how strong he was. 

“Is it...is it really you?” Tony asked, still curled up against the corner of the room. 

Steve knelt down in front of him and placed a hand on his cheek. “Of course it is. I’m here, Tony. I promise.”

Tony reached up and put his own hand on top of Steve’s. It felt so warm, so  _ real. _ All the mental barriers Tony had put up over the last few months shattered underneath his touch. He let himself fall into Steve’s arms, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his face against his shoulder. His body started to shake as he cried into Steve’s shirt. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Steve said, his arms steady and strong around Tony’s shoulders. “It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’m so sorry it took this long. I missed you so much, Tony.”

After a long moment, Tony pulled back to look Steve in the eyes. “I thought you weren’t looking,” he said in a small voice. 

Steve lifted a hand and wiped the tears from Tony’s face with his thumb. “Tony. I was looking for you all day, every day. I haven’t slept more than four hours at a time in months. I would never abandon you, you have to know that.”

With that, Steve leaned forward and kissed Tony gently on the lips. Tony froze for a second, trying to process it. If Steve was kissing him, that must mean…

“Wait, Steve…” 

“What is it?”

Tony took a beat and decided he didn’t want to ruin the moment. 

“Nothing. Just kiss me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading :) kudos and comments are always appreciated. also, since there's only a few days left of October please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to see for the remaining prompts.


	27. Ransom - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: ransom  
Words: 1062  
Notes: Irondad, TW for blood and mentions of torture

The envelope came six days after Peter went missing. It had been absolute hell since he disappeared in the middle of the night, seemingly out of thin air. May had called Tony in a panic, saying that Peter wasn’t in his bed when she went to wake him up that morning. Since then, Tony had hardly slept or eaten or done anything besides search for him. But there were no clues, nothing left behind for him to go on. Any scraps of information he found always seemed to lead to a dead end. It was driving him insane. He couldn’t close his eyes without imagining Peter lying dead somewhere. And then the envelope came.

There was nothing inside but a flash drive. Tony plugged it into his computer and held his breath until the video came on screen. The thumbnail was a picture of someone strapped to a chair with a bag over his head, but Tony knew it was Peter before he pressed play.

“Mr. Stark,” a thickly accented voice said from behind the camera, “We have something we think you might want.”

A hand reached into the frame and lifted the bag, revealing Peter’s terrified face underneath. He looked terrible, even worse than Tony feared. His face was swollen and bruised, and there was dark blood caked in his hair. It made Tony want to throw up. 

“Your little protegee has been quite the piece of work,” the voice said, “it’s such a shame that we’ve had to ruin his pretty little face.”

Peter was looking directly into the camera, his eyes desperate and pleading while the kidnapper spoke.

“I don’t want to hurt this little thing any more than I have to, Stark. After all, he’s just a...motivation. What I really want is  _ you. _ ” 

Tony’s stomach dropped. They were using Peter to get to him. He had never felt guiltier in his life. If it wasn’t for him, Peter would be safe and sound right now, not bruised and bleeding strapped to a chair. 

“Listen carefully, Stark. You have 24 hours to turn yourself in, or the boy dies.”

Peter’s eyes went wide. “No, Mr. Stark, you can’t give yourself up to them, it’s a --” 

A hand flung into the frame and punched Peter square in the jaw, shutting him up. Then the video ended with the address written on a black screen. 

Tony knew what he had to do. He had gotten Peter into this situation, and he was going to get him out. He didn’t care what the kidnappers might do to him, the only thing that mattered was getting Peter to safety. But as he ran down the hallway to leave, he was stopped by Steve and Natasha. 

“Tony!” Natasha said, grabbing his arm, “where the hell are you going?”

“It’s Peter,” he said breathlessly, annoyed that he was wasting time, “I just got a video. The kidnappers want me. I’m going.”

“Tony, you can’t,” Steve said, holding him back as gently as possible. 

“Are you kidding? I have to go, I have to save him. They’ll kill him if I don’t.”

“We’re not going to let him die,” Natasha said, “but we’re also not going to let you turn yourself in to a bunch of maniacs.”

“What -” Tony started, but he was quickly interrupted by Steve.

“We’re going with you, idiot. And we’re going to get him out  _ without _ turning you in.”

“Fine,” Tony said after a moment, “but if it comes down to it, you save him over me.” 

XxxxxxX

When they landed at the warehouse, Tony was struck by how eerily quiet it was.  _ They must be waiting for us. _ He was prepared to fight as much as he could, but at the end of the day he knew he would turn himself in if he had to. 

“Natasha, you take the back entrance. I’ll take the front. Tony, go in through the ceiling. Whoever finds the kid first takes him and leaves, understood?”

Tony nodded and flew up to the hatch in the ceiling. He opened it as quietly as possible and looked through, counting six kidnappers and no Peter in his range of vision.  _ Here goes nothing. _

He dropped through the ceiling and surprised the kidnappers, who all had guns pointed at the door.  _ Idiots.  _ It was an easy enough fight, and Tony was through with all six of them in five minutes flat. They clearly weren’t prepared for a fight with Iron Man.  _ Double idiots. No one messes with my kid. _

Once the kidnappers were down, Tony stopped and heard the sounds of Steve and Natasha fighting from opposite sides of the building. Knowing they could handle themselves, Tony set off looking for Peter. 

It was like a maze in there, and for a minute Tony thought he would never find him. Or worse, that he would find him dead. His heart was thumping hard in his chest as he kicked down door after door, desperately searching for Peter. 

Finally, just before Tony lost all hope, he heard a muffled screaming sound coming from below his feet. It had to be Peter. If it wasn’t...Tony didn’t even want to think about it. 

He blasted a hole through the floor, not bothering to look for a staircase or a trap door. Peter had been trapped here long enough and he wasn’t going to waste any more time in finding him. 

When he landed, the first thing he saw was Peter, strapped to a chair with a gag across his mouth. He yanked off his mask and ran to his kid, his heart soaring with relief. 

“Hey, Pete,” he said, tearing off the gag and starting to work on the restraints. “Long time no see.”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed, his eyes wide, “Please don’t tell me you turned yourself in.”

“No, kid. Those guys are all either dead or unconscious. They’re not going to get me and they’re certainly not going to hurt you anymore.” 

Tony finished with the ropes around Peter’s wrists, and the kid practically fell into his arms. It felt so amazing to hold him after all those days worrying. He may be bruised and bloody, but he was alive. 

“I’m so happy to see you, Pete,” he said, pressing a kiss to temple, “No one is ever going to get away with hurting you. I promise.”


	28. Beaten - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: beaten  
Words: 1388  
Notes: Stony, TW for graphic violence, blood, and guns

The underground Hydra base was an intricate maze of tunnels, hidden passageways, and trap doors. Tony had gotten separated from Steve at least an hour ago, and all he was focused on now was finding him. This place was creepy as hell, and while he knew that both of them were more than capable of taking care of themselves, he knew he’d feel better if they were together. There was only one problem: he had absolutely no idea where he was, and even less of an idea of where Steve was. It felt like he was wandering aimlessly and not getting any closer to finding his boyfriend.

Without any warning, Tony felt the ground slip out from under him. He let out a quick yelp as he fell through the trap door, landing hard on his knees on the floor below. He heard the sickening sound of a bone snapping, and white hot pain shot through his left leg. 

“ _ Fuck, _ ” he hissed. There was no way he was going to be able to put weight on that leg, let alone walk. 

“Tony?” Steve’s voice called from the other end of the hallway, “Is that you, babe?”

_ Thank god. _ Tony sighed in relief. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. He didn’t know what he would have done if Steve wasn’t there.

“Yeah, Steve, over here!”

Steve was by his side in no time, frowning at Tony’s leg. It must have looked pretty bad.

“Let’s get you somewhere safe,” Steve said, “I think I found a good place to hide until we can get out of here. I’m sorry, babe, but this is gonna hurt.”

Tony gritted his teeth as Steve picked him up from the ground, the movement causing something to shift in his leg. He groaned and rested his head against Steve’s shoulder. 

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. We’re almost there.”

Steve opened a thick steel door at the end of the hallway and carefully set Tony down on a chair inside the small room. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Tony asked, “You’re gonna go look for a way out of here?”

Steve didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to the door and closed the heavy latch, locking them in. 

“Steve? What’s going on? Why are you locking the -- “ 

Tony was interrupted by the sound of Steve laughing. It was cold and maniacal. It didn’t sound like his boyfriend at all. 

“Oh, Stark,” Steve said in a calculated voice, “you’re so gullible.”

Tony just blinked at him, too stunned to respond. It didn’t make any sense. The man standing in front of him looked exactly like Steve, down to the last hair on his head. But there was something in his eyes that didn’t look right. And Steve hadn’t called him “Stark” in years. 

“Steve, come on, this isn’t funny,” he said, hoping that this was all some dumb joke, “you’re scaring me.”

“God, you’re even more pathetic than I thought,” Steve said in a mocking tone, “I guess that’s what love will do to you.”

“What the hell is going on?”

“Shut up, Stark. I’m sick of hearing you talk.” 

Tony didn’t have time to process his words before Steve’s fist collided with his face. He looked up at him in horror as blood started dribbling from his lips. There was nothing but hate in Steve’s eyes. It was the most disturbing thing Tony had ever seen. Less than 24 hours ago he they were curled up on the couch together, Steve gently stroking Tony’s hair. And now he was being  _ punched _ by the love of his life. 

“Steve, listen to me,” he pleaded, trying to get through to him even though it seemed impossible, “you don’t want to do this.”

Steve laughed, another cold sound so devoid of all the joy that usually filled his laughter. “Oh trust me, I  _ definitely  _ want to do this. And didn’t I tell you to shut up?”

Steve kicked the chair out from underneath Tony and he fell to the ground, his weight mostly landing on his already injured leg. But before he could scream, Steve kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. 

There was nothing he could do as Steve clambered on top of him and started raining punches down on his face and chest. Even if he wasn’t injured, there was no way he would be able to fight back. The idea of hitting his boyfriend was unimaginable, even as self defense.

The beating was relentless. Steve wasn’t letting up, even for a second. His face was wet with blood and he couldn’t even lift his neck anymore. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he passed out. Steve’s face, so filled with hatred and rage, would be the last thing he saw. 

Tony was too out of it to notice the sound of someone banging at the door. It was hard to focus on anything else when you were getting beaten to a pulp. But the gunshot that rang out a few seconds later was impossible to miss. At first, Tony thought that  _ he _ had been shot. He could feel his shirt getting soaked with blood and he was already in so much pain from everything else. But then Steve’s body went limp on top of him and Tony saw the life go out of his eyes.

“NO!” Tony screamed. He didn’t care that he had just been beating the shit out of him, Steve couldn’t be dead. 

He looked up to see who had just fired the gun and locked eyes with... _ Steve.  _

“What the…” Tony said, looking frantically back and forth from the Steve in the doorway to the one who was lying dead on top of him. He was shaking horribly, unable to process what he was seeing.

“Tony, that’s not me,” the Steve in the doorway said as he approached him cautiously, “I don’t know who the hell that is but it’s not me. I’m right here.”

Steve knelt down in front of Tony and gently pushed the body of the other Steve off of him. He looked upset and concerned, but there was no hatred in his eyes like there had been before. 

“S-Steve?” He asked breathlessly, still not entirely sure what he was seeing. Maybe he had already passed out and was just making all of this up.

“It’s me. I promise.” Steve reached out to grab Tony’s shoulders, but Tony couldn’t help but flinch away from him. The pained look on Steve’s face was unlike anything Tony had ever seen. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, Tony. I would never hurt you.” He sounded so gentle and so  _ real, _ the complete opposite of the other Steve. He reached out again, and this time Tony let him grab his shoulders and pull him close. His arms felt strong and warm, like they belonged there. Tony settled against his chest and his body slowly stopped shaking. 

“It’s okay,” Steve said, running a hand through Tony’s blood-soaked hair, “I’ve got you, yeah? He’s not me, and he can’t hurt you anymore.”

Tony let his head rest against Steve’s shoulder and took long, slow breaths. It was insane emotional whiplash, getting beaten half to death one second and held gently the next. He would need a while to calm down, but it was over. He couldn’t help but feel safe in Steve’s arms. 

XxxxxxxX

A few months after it happened, Tony was still having nightmares and flashbacks, though they were getting less frequent. It killed Steve every time Tony woke up screaming in the middle of the night and looked at him in terror. The idea of Tony being afraid of him made Steve want to throw up. He would never forget the moment he walked into that room and saw a copy of himself beating his boyfriend close to death. He didn’t even think before he shot that gun, and he didn’t regret it one bit.

It usually only took him a few minutes to calm Tony down when he woke up from a nightmare. He would whisper reassurances to him and play with his hair, and eventually Tony would stop shaking and relax back into Steve’s arms. It wasn’t perfect, but it was their new normal. And as long as they were together, it would be okay. 


	29. Numb - Irondad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Numb  
Words: 972  
Notes: Irondad, set between Infinity War and Endgame (canon-compliant)

In the months immediately following the snap, Tony doesn’t talk much. He’s probably never been this quiet in his life. It’s too hard to talk about what happened without breaking down, but he doesn’t really want to talk about anything else, either. So he mostly keeps to himself, trapped inside his own head, reliving the moment Peter turned to dust in his arms. 

He can’t get over how  _ scared _ the kid looked as he stumbled towards him on that horrible barren planet. The last thing Peter ever felt was pure terror, and Tony couldn’t even manage to say something,  _ anything,  _ to comfort him. All he had said was “you’re alright.” What the hell was that. “You’re  _ alright _ ” when the kid was literally turning to dust. He should have said something else. He doesn’t know  _ what _ , exactly, but he obsesses over it constantly. Even though he knows that nothing he could have said would have changed anything, the guilt he feels for not even  _ trying _ is almost as bad as the crushing guilt he feels for not stopping Thanos when he had the chance. 

So many people tell him it’s not his fault. Pepper tells him that all the time, as does Rhodey. And on the rare occasions that he sees Steve he always tries to remind him that they  _ all  _ fought Thanos at one point or another, and they  _ all  _ lost. But no matter how many times he’s told, he can’t stop the crushing guilt from weighing him down day and night. He doesn’t necessarily feel responsible for the entire Universe, but he swore he would protect Peter, and he failed. 

Eventually, he stops living inside his own head and he tries to go back to normal life. At least, whatever normal life is now, because he knows the world will never really be the same as it was before the snap. It’s hard at first. Most days he just wants to lock himself in his bedroom and hide under the covers, but he knows he can’t live like that forever. So he makes an effort, he goes on walks with Pepper and meets Steve and Natasha for lunch. It starts to get easier. He’s not moving on, exactly, but he’s healing. 

Still, every time he sees a photo of Peter it feels like a knife to the heart. But he doesn’t want to put all the pictures away, that would feel like he was erasing the kid from his life. So he makes a point of hanging the few photos he has in the new house, even though it hurts. It’s manageable, and he has no choice but to work through it. He desperately wants to be a good dad to Morgan, and he knows he can’t do that if he’s moping around all the time. 

His life gets busy again, and his brain can’t cope with all the reminders of grief hanging on the walls. But he can’t take the photos down, so his brain compensates by just shutting down whenever he sees a photo of Peter. Now, instead of being hit with a wave of guilt and pain, seeing Peter’s face just makes him feel numb. He finds himself unable to feel anything at all, sometimes for hours afterwards. In some ways, this is worse than it was before. Sure, he doesn’t have to deal with the pain anymore, but at least that was usually over within a few minutes and usually came accompanied with a few happy memories of Peter. 

He gets sick of feeling numb all the time, so he finally takes down most of the pictures. But he can’t completely erase the kid from his life, so he leaves his favorite one up next to the kitchen sink. It’s usually tucked away behind clutter or other decorations, so he’s able to live his life almost normally again. Still, every time he cleans that shelf and looks at Peter’s goofy face, he feels numb again. 

The next few years are relatively stable. He finds so much joy in being a dad, and for the first time in a long time he feels fulfilled. His life is quiet and safe and beautiful. Not much changes until he gets an unannounced visit from his old friends. 

When Scott tells him about his experience in the quantum realm, it turns his world upside down. Until now, he never thought it would be possible to get everyone back. He had been living under the assumption that everyone was gone forever, but now he has hope. Maybe it’s an insane plan and the odds are stacked against them a million to one, but there  _ is _ a chance. The only problem is that he’s too scared to go through with it. Even if he didn’t have a family at stake, time travel would still terrify him. So much could go wrong, the tiniest mistake could mean not just the end of his life, but the end of the  _ world _ . He can’t agree to it, no matter how much he wants to. 

After they leave, Tony tries to get his mind off of Scott’s insane plan. Even though he refused, the possibility of hope is still latched onto him like superglue. When he looks at the picture of him and Peter in the kitchen, he expects to feel numb again, just like ha always does. Instead, he’s hit with a wave of emotions that he’s entirely unprepared for. All of the guilt and pain that he used to feel constantly comes rushing back, but there’s something else there too. A powerful sense of determination and motivation. All of these feelings come jumbled together and impossible to dissect, but they leave him with just one thought, relentlessly pounding in his head. 

He has to do it. He has to save his kid. Whatever it takes. 


	30. Recovery - Superfamily

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Recovery  
Words: 693  
Notes: Superfamily AU/Endgame fixit - everything is basically the same except Peter is Tony and Steve’s son and Tony survived Endgame

“And I...am...Iron Man.”

Tony snaps his fingers and his body is overwhelmed with an indescribable mix of pain and power. The next few minutes are a complete blur. He can’t process his surroundings anymore and he just wants it all to stop. Somewhere far away, he thinks he can hear Peter calling for him. Even after five years without him, Tony would recognize his son’s voice anywhere. He wishes he could say something, let him know how much he loves him, but he can’t even breathe, let alone speak. He knows he’s out of time, but it’s okay. Peter is back, Thanos is dead, and Steve survived the battle. As his vision fades to black, he’s content with the world he’s leaving behind.

XxxxX

When he first wakes up, it’s all too much. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got there. The room is too loud and he’s too cold. He’s surrounded by a team of doctors who are all screaming orders at each other in a panic. It doesn’t make any sense. He’s supposed to be dead. He wants to scream, but a terrified looking doctor covers his mouth with a mask before he gets the chance. Something tastes sweet, and the world fades to black again. 

XxxxX

The next time he wakes up, it’s a little more manageable. He’s in a dark, empty room and it’s not so cold anymore. The only sound is the steady beeping of a heart monitor. He’s not in any pain, but his entire body feels stiff, like he hasn’t moved in weeks. Maybe he hasn’t. It doesn’t feel like any time has passed, but the feeding tube in his nose suggests otherwise. He tries to reach for the call button and finds that he doesn’t have a right arm anymore, but he’s too tired to care about that right now. He falls asleep with his left hand on the buzzer, not even stirring when a nurse bursts into the room.

XxxxX

He wakes up again, and this time it’s not so dark. There’s a soft morning light coming in from the windows. Someone is clutching his left hand so tight he thinks it might break. He turns his head and locks eyes with Steve, who’s staring at him with an intensity he can’t put into words. 

“Hey,” Tony manages, his throat scratchy and dry from lack of use.

It takes Steve a minute to respond. He looks like he’s just too overwhelmed to speak. His eyes are watery and bloodshot and he’s still clutching Tony’s hand like his life depends on it. Tony wants to jump out of bed and hug him as tight as he can, but he can’t even sit up right now.

“Tony…” Steve finally says, his voice quiet and shaky as tears start to spill down his cheeks. Tony hates seeing him cry. “Oh my god,  _ Tony.” _

“Hey,” Tony says again, managing to squeeze Steve’s hand back a little, “don’t cry.”

Steve shakes his head, “Can’t help it.”

“How long has it been?” Tony asks, finding it a little easier to speak now.

Steve is quiet for a moment, and he kisses Tony’s knuckles hard before he answers. “Five weeks.”

“Oh,” Tony says simply. No wonder he’s so stiff. “Long time.”

Steve laughs. “Yeah, you think?”

Tony just smiles. It’s nice to hear Steve laugh. 

“I missed you so much, Tony. I thought I lost you.” Steve’s voice cracks and he stifles a sob.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tony says, wishing again that he could jump up and hug him, “I’m right here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve nods and manages a small smile, “You’re going to have to tell Peter that about a thousand times. He’s been a wreck.”

Tony can’t help but smile at the mention of Peter’s name. For a minute there he was afraid that he had imagined his son coming back to life. 

“Where is he? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s fine,” Steve says, “he’ll be here soon. He’s gonna be so happy to see you.” 

“We got so lucky,” Tony says, giving Steve’s hand another squeeze.

“We really did.”


	31. Embrace - Stony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Embrace  
Words: 1041  
Notes: Stony - post Civil War reunion fic   
Can't believe Whumptober is over! It's been a blast. Happy Halloween everyone.

Tony’s eyes darted back and forth from the old flip phone in his hand to the steel beam that was crushing his legs. He had been stuck under the collapsed building for almost an hour now, and no one was answering his calls. He had tried Rhodey and Happy five times each, Peter twice, and even Fury once. But it was the middle of the night, and apparently no one kept their phone on loud anymore. So he was left with one more option: Steve Rogers. 

They hadn’t spoken in the eight months that had passed since their fight in Siberia, but Tony carried that stupid flip phone around with him everywhere he went. He didn’t really know why he held onto that phone. Part of him didn’t even believe that Steve would answer if he called. But having it made him feel like he still had some sort of connection to his old friend, even if he never thought he’d be able to work up the courage to actually call him. The option was there, and that was all that mattered. 

He didn’t have much of a choice now, though. No one else was answering, and he wasn’t going to be able to last much longer trapped under the rubble. A wound in his side was slowly leaking blood, and he was starting to feel dizzy and disconnected from reality.  _ Fuck it. Here goes nothing. _ He hit the call button with a shaking thumb and waited with bated breath.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Steve wasn’t answering. He felt like a complete idiot for thinking he might pick up. After everything that happened between them, of course he wasn’t going to answer. He had no reason to. Tony was about to break the phone in half when Steve finally picked up.

At first, all he heard was breathing on the other end of the line. Maybe he had answered by accident? That would probably make more sense than him actually wanting to talk to Tony. But after a long moment, he spoke.

“Tony.” He said simply, his voice flat.

“Hey, Steve. Sorry to bother you.” Tony was more nervous about talking to him than he was about the rubble currently crushing his body.

“Are you hurt? You don’t sound good.” There was a shift in Steve’s voice, from flat and emotionless to genuinely concerned. 

“Uh, yeah,” Tony said, grateful for the opening. He didn’t have time for small talk, anyway. “I kinda got stuck in a building that blew up and now I’m trapped in the rubble. Bleeding a lot. I tried calling everyone, like I said I really didn’t want to bother you, but no one --”

“Where are you?” Steve said, cutting him off. 

“Upstate. That creepy old building not far from the compound.”

“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” With that, Steve hung up. 

Tony stared at the phone in disbelief. He wasn’t expecting Steve to even  _ answer _ , let alone agree to come help him within thirty seconds of conversation. Despite the shock, it was still a massive relief. The bleeding from his side was getting worse, and it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed someone to come save him. 

20 long minutes later, Tony heard the sound of a jet landing outside the building. All of a sudden, he realized how nervous he was to actually see Steve. Talking to him on the phone was one thing, but now he was going to see him face to face and he didn’t think he was ready. The memory of Steve slamming his shield down onto Tony’s suit flashed through his mind. Maybe Steve was just coming here to finish the job. He flinched at the thought and tried to push it away, but it kept nagging at the back of his mind as he heard Steve’s footsteps getting closer. 

“Tony? Where are you?” Steve’s voice rang out. Tony hesitated for a moment before responding.

“Over here!” He yelled, as loud as he could manage. This was it. The moment of truth. 

“Oh god,  _ Tony. _ ” Steve’s voice was surprisingly gentle. Tony turned his head, and there he was, standing right in front of him looking so different than he had eight months ago. His hair was longer, messier, and that  _ beard _ ...honestly, it was a good look. Tony couldn’t believe he was even thinking about that right now. 

“Hey,” Tony managed, knowing full well how lame he must have sounded. 

“Don’t move,” Steve said, though he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. Steve reached down and lifted the beam from off of Tony’s body with ease. Tony had almost forgotten how strong he was. He slid out from under the beam and Steve dropped it with a satisfying clanging noise. 

“Thank you,” Tony said, still having a hard time processing the fact that  _ Steve Rogers _ was standing right in front of him. Stupidly, he tried to stand up on his own and his legs almost immediately gave out from under him. He expected to hit the ground, feeling like a total moron, but Steve caught him before he could crack his head open on the concrete. 

Tony froze. Eight months of no contact whatsoever, and now Steve had his arms around him, keeping him from falling. It was totally overwhelming. 

“You okay?” Steve asked, still not letting go.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” Tony took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m really sorry I bothered you. I know you probably don’t want to see me and if you want to go now it’s totally fine.”

Steve didn’t respond. Instead, he shifted his grip so that he wasn’t just holding Tony up, he was  _ hugging  _ him. Tony’s eyes widened and he stood completely still for a moment, unsure that this was really happening. But Steve’s arms were firmly wrapped around him, and he felt so warm and strong and familiar. Tony didn’t want it to end. He finally returned the hug, his arms wrapping around Steve’s neck. It felt like all the bad blood between them was fading away with every second they spent pressed together.

“I missed you, Tony.” 

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Double thanks if you read all 31 chapters. I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter/the project as a whole :)


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